


An Unexpected Light

by sktrgrl13



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst with a Happy Ending, Anxiety, Demons, Elemental Guardians, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Forgiveness, Four is Better than Two, Foursome M/M/M/M, Gen, Guilt, Love, M/M, Magic, Magic-Users, Magical Weapons, Mentions of Rape, Minor Character Death, Multi, OT4 Breeding Grounds, Pain, Panic Attacks, Referenced Child Abuse, Sacrifice, Self-Loathing, Slow Burn, Soulmates, Teams as family, Therefore, Triggers, Tsukishima-centric, Two is Better than One, Why Separate the Love?, dark pasts, internal struggles, nothing is what it seems, soul connections
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-11
Updated: 2018-11-17
Packaged: 2018-11-30 22:35:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 11
Words: 50,538
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11473068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sktrgrl13/pseuds/sktrgrl13
Summary: Tsukishima Kei would rather continue living his life the way it was -- behind his walls where no one dared to reach him and where his past couldn't get him. But when a strange woman in an alley unleashes something that was locked away inside of him and the Fate of not only the World he knows, but also the World he doesn't is thrust upon his shoulders, he becomes aware that not even his walls are strong enough to keep out the truth.





	1. Reunions

**Author's Note:**

> My First ever Haikyuu story! AHHHHHHH!
> 
> I'm hoping that you guys will enjoy it and I am going to apologize ahead of time for any OOC-ness that occurs throughout the chapter. I love all my Haikyuu boys and I want to ensure that I am trying to do them justice!! (Even if emotionally constipated characters like Tsuki are hard to characterize, but what can I say -- that's why I LOVE him so much!) 
> 
> I hope to keep my updates fairly frequent, but we'll have to see where life takes me!! :) I hope you enjoy this first chapter!
> 
> -sktrgrl13

_ The morning sun streamed in through the open windows, warming the house with a heat that had not been existent for days. It got to the point where he was pretty sure that his fingers and toes were going to fall off! The bright yellow walls were bare, but collections of dust revealed the past existence of pictures, shelves, chairs and other knick-knacks. All that seemed to be left in the room were two small boys, no older than the ages of four and ten.  _

_ The youngest boy was sitting with his back against one of the walls with his knees brought up to his chest. His curly blond hair hung in his honey brown eyes as he watched his older brother tiptoe towards the front door.  _

_ “Aki,” The blond muttered somewhat nervously, “Mama said we should stay put.” _

_ The older boy turned to his younger brother; sadness displayed in his mocha brown eyes, _

_ “I know what she said, but she’s been out there a really long time. I just want to see if she’s alright or if she needs any help.” _

_ The younger boy pushed himself to his feet and walked over to his hero with determined eyes; the toy dinosaur he had hidden between his legs now pulled tightly against his chest, _

_ “I’ll come with you; we can find her together.” _

_ Aki opened his mouth to no doubt argue, when a loud explosion suddenly rocked the house. A small scream was torn from his throat as he was thrown of balance and into Aki’s long legs. Aki wrapped firmly around his younger brother’s shoulders as the yellow walls seemed to rattle and shake around them. When the shaking seemed to come to an end, Aki grabbed onto his little brother’s hand and started to pull him outside; barely even pausing to slip on their shoes before stepping into the outside world.  _

_ One of the first things he noticed was that the smooth streets that they used to play on every single day were completely destroyed. They were now layered on top of each other like poorly placed legos. Water and other substances sprouted from each new crack in the road like the water fountains that he would see at the park when he went with Aki and his Mama. He clutched onto his older brother’s hand even tighter as he took in the large crowd of people who stood in the middle of the destruction.  _

_ All their voices were mashing together in a cacophony of unclear sounds; he could feel himself tensing at the abundance of unintelligible noise. He was never really a fan of crowded places. Despite knowing this, Aki pulled on his hand with an unreadable expression and led him into the crowd of people. They pushed themselves to the front of the crowd so that they could get a better look at what everyone was crowded around. _

_ He was suddenly very aware of people trying to grab onto both his brother and himself as they took in the scene that was in front of them. But no matter how long he looked at what was before his eyes, he could not seem to actually register what he was seeing.  A mangled corpse of a woman was lying in the middle of the street covered in blood; slabs of asphalt and concrete encasing her body in an immovable coffin.  _

_ The younger boy’s legs gave out from under him as he recognized who the body on the street was. He could still distinguish the blonde coloured hair, some of the alabaster skin, the familiar clothes and the wide, unstaring, deep deep brown eyes. Bile rose up into the young blond’s throat as he threw up next to his mother’s body. Tears rained down his cheeks in waves and his body was nearly convulsing from the shock. He felt the presence of his older brother, but he couldn’t actually see him, nor actually hear the words he was saying; if he was actually saying anything at all.  _

_ He was aware of his older brother pulling him into his arms and rocking him back and forth, effectively calming him and making his mind shut down and drift away. Maybe if he just thought about his dinosaurs, strawberry shortcake and that new ball-game his brother taught him, everything would be okay. When the blond looked back at his mother once more he noticed there was something near her in red. He tugged on Aki’s sleeve and pointed it out to him; it just had to be important. _

_ He heard Aki gasp and start muttering something under his breath. The boy tried to listen to what his brother was saying, but it sounded weird and in a voice that he barely recognized. He opened his mouth to ask his brother what he was saying only to be cut off by Aki lifting him into his arms; making sure that his somewhat long legs were wrapped around the ten year old’s hips. _

_ His larger hand was buried in the younger blond’s curls and long fingers were sifting through the strands comfortingly as he turned his back on the scene and started walking back through the crowd; continuing to mutter under his breath. Only now, he was actually close enough to catch what he was saying -- even if he didn’t understand what it meant.  _

_ “Keep him safe… I have to keep him safe… they’ll come after him soon… without mom around, I need to keep Kei safe!” _

**“Alright, I believe that is all we’ll focus on for today,”** A distant voice whispered,  **“When I count back from three you will awaken.”**

_ Every fibre of his being wanted him to stay there; he was now old enough to actually understand what his long-lost brother was trying to say. Even if his chest ached from reliving his mother’s death, he wanted to figure out why she died and who killed her. _

**“3…”** The voice began.

_ He wanted to keep looking at his older brother; his rock, his saviour. Aki was the reason why he had survived all the years he spent in foster care. If it weren’t for him, Kei probably would’ve died a long time ago. _

**“2…”**

_ If only he was old enough to understand what was happening around him; if only he knew why he was moved from house to house as a child. He wanted to know what his mom was afraid of over all those years. Aki seemed to know about it, but he refused to even acknowledge what was happening. He just kept that dumbass smile on his face and pretended that nothing bad was going on around them.  _

_ The only thing Aki did was protect him for all those years in that hell hole that was called his home until he was eight and they were both freed; however, they weren’t freed from the scars that littered their bodies or the scars of betrayal.  _

**“1…”**

The bright fluorescent lights blinded him as soon as he opened his eyes; a small tear escaped his normally expressionless façade and trailed down his cheek. He swiped at it furiously, trying to hide it. Of course, nothing would be able to get past Dr. Takeda. He immediately handed him a box of tissues with a sad, sympathetic look on his surprisingly young face. The young psychiatrist always did seem to get too emotionally invested during their sessions.

“Now Tsukishima-kun,” He picked up his pen and tried to smile at him reassuringly, “Will you be willing to share what you experienced during this session?”

He rolled his eyes and glanced away from the psychiatrist; clicking his tongue against the roof his mouth. Takeda was fairly civil with him in the beginning and tried not to push his boundaries, but as soon as he tried to delve into his past and get him to ‘acknowledge what happened’ and ‘talk about his feelings’ Kei immediately shut down. 

His past was something that was never going to be picked apart and analysed, especially if he had anything to say about it. Takeda stared at Kei patiently with kind brown eyes and a somewhat tight expression. His dark hair was as messy as usual and his thick-framed lenses seemed to be speckled with some of his lunch from earlier that day. 

The pen in his hand was shaking ever so slightly with the tension that was slowly building up in his body. Though Kei was about 99.9% sure that that was the psychiatrist’s natural disposition. Kei still refused to meet his gaze and instead tried to search for the clock so he could countdown the minutes he had left in this agonizing session. When he couldn’t locate it, he sighed under his breath and instead pulled his own glasses off his face and started the task of cleaning them.

Even if they were absolutely impeccable. 

“Tsukishima-kun, if you don’t tell me anything I won’t be able to help you.” Takeda voiced timidly, “Your parents and I want you to heal so that you will be able to thrive in the outside world. Don’t you want to get rid of your panic attacks and finally feel comfortable with yourself?”

“Of course I do.” He muttered monotonously as he placed his frames back on his face to hide his trembling fingers.

“Then let me help you; you’re a bright kid with a bright future, don’t let anything or anyone ruin it for you.”

The blond teen sighed and fiddled with his fingers absently. He fought to keep his face as stoic as usual; not a single crack in the perfect mask he had erected and kept in place for ten years. As the psychiatrist’s eyes stared at him expectantly, his frustration started to surface. He hated to be stared at; he wasn’t something to be analysed, he was a human being for god sake. 

“You don’t know anything about what happened and no matter how much you would like to think you could, you will not be able to  _ save me  _ Takeda-sensei. I don’t need to be saved, especially by the likes of you.”

With his body trembling with repressed emotion, Kei got to his feet and went towards the office door. He didn’t look back at Dr. Takeda as he left, but he was sure he could feel as though the psychiatrist was celebrating in some way as he stared at his back. He was probably happy because for the first time in the three years Kei had been attending therapy with him, his walls had finally cracked.

xXxXxXxXx

Kei fled from the office building, tears threatening to overwhelm his walls, as the raw feeling of loneliness and guilt tried to dig their claws into him. Keeping his head bowed, he pushed his way through the crowd of people so he could get as far away from the Miyagi Psychiatric Office as fast as his long legs could carry him. 

His breathing was starting to escalate and his chest was starting to tighten to the point where he thought he was going to pass out. He hastily pushed through the crowd and into a deserted alleyway. Normally he would stay away from the hidden alleys of Miyagi since they were known to be filled to the brim with homeless people and drunks, but he needed somewhere to hide so he could let his panic pass. 

He leaned his back against the side of the brick building behind him and slowly lowered himself onto the dingy ground beneath him. He closed his eyes and pulled his legs close to his chest in order to make himself feel smaller and less noticeable. He could feel his chest loosening and breathing was getting easier.

He would get this feeling all the time growing up with his mom and brother. It wasn’t until recently that he realized that every time he felt like this they would end up leaving the town within the next couple of days. He also experienced them when he lived in that hell of a foster home in Sendai, but the anxiety was almost so frequent that the he got used to the panic attacks. However, it was as he grew up and got away from  _ that house _ , his anxiety and panic attacks got worse. 

When his breathing returned to normal and the anxiety disappeared Kei finally pushed himself to his feet. He was about to leave the alley and set up his playlist for the long walk home when something, or he guessed some _ one _ , latched onto his wrist. He swallowed back the ever encroaching anxiety and hesitantly turned around. He met the eyes of a beggar woman, though he had to look down a good distance to do so, covered in various shawls and tattered clothing. Her age couldn’t be easily defined, but her hollow cheeks told him of how malnourished the woman was. 

Kei tried to pull away, but the old woman’s grip only seemed to get tighter; surprisingly, he was unable to move even an inch. The woman’s eyes, the colour of liquid sunshine, stared deeply into his. A smile spread across her lips as the blond teen stopped fighting against her grip.

“A beautiful golden light engulfs you,” She whispered, “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“W-What are you talking about?” He demanded nervously; even if he tried to mask it with haughtiness, “It’s probably only the sun hitting my back or something.”

The woman shook her head in denial and pulled Kei closer to her causing him to have to bend down due to her height in comparison to his own,

“No, this golden light is special; it holds great power.” The woman stated plainly, “The power to visit the past, the power to gaze into the future, the power of empathy and lastly, the power of life itself.”

“I don’t have time for this,” Kei rolled his eyes in annoyance, “Let me go.”

The woman ignored him and continued to stare into his honey brown orbs. The woman, with surprisingly fast reflexes, slid the blond’s glasses down the bridge of his nose and placed her free hand over his eyes so he couldn’t see anything.

“I shall free your spirit from the ties that bind it,” The woman stated almost remorsefully, “Power like this cannot remain hidden for long; no matter how unfortunate that may be.”

Before Kei could say anything, intense heat danced across his eyes. He wanted to scream in pain, but his voice didn’t seem to be working;  _ nothing _ seemed to be  _ working _ . After what felt like hours of pure agony the woman’s hand was finally removed from his eyes. He blinked a few times to clear his hazy vision. He pushed his glasses to their normal resting place, but found that he had a new issue to deal with. He could see perfectly fine out of his right eye, but his left had gone entirely black; he couldn’t see anything on his left side.

Kei’s chest tightened as panic started to creep up on him; he stared at the woman in fear,

“W-What did you do?! W-Why can’t I see anything from my left eye!”

“The key to unlocking your magnificent gold light was in your left eye, naturally in order for you to gain your abilities that part of your body would have to be sacrificed.” The woman explained.

“I still don’t know what you’re talking about.” Kei backed away from the woman; his eyes never leaving her frame, “You’ve lost it.”

“You will know in due time young one,” The woman said as she turned away and started making her way down the alley as she ignored his disbelief, “People will come for you; they’ll protect you, just stay strong young Light, stay strong.”

Kei got to his feet to follow her, only to realize that she had vanished. He felt uncoordinated with only one working eye as he ran out of the alley, but he had to find someone to help him. He stopped by the curb and dug into his pocket for his phone. 

He started to dial his friend Yamaguchi’s phone number when one of the passersby ran into him and his phone flew out of his hand and onto the street. Cursing under his breath at the person who ran into him, he stepped off the curb and reached for his phone. He put the device to his ear as he realized that the phone was ringing. 

The ringing was cut off as the phone finally connected and his best friend’s chipper voice reached him; the tension and fear he was feeling suddenly draining from his shoulders.

“Tsuki! Why are you calling me? I thought you were at your appointment? Did you walk out on Takeda-sensei  _ again _ ? You do know that he is trying to help you right?”

The corner of Kei’s lip twitched at Yamaguchi’s rambling,

“Shut up Yamaguchi,”

Suddenly the sound of screeching tires met his left ear and he realized his crucial mistake. He forgot that he was now blind on that side and didn’t compensate for that fact when he walked onto the street to retrieve his phone.

When did he get so careless?

He braced himself for impact, but instead of being hit from the side like he was expecting, he was hit from the back and he flew forward. The people in the area gasped as Kei hit the ground, but strangely he didn’t feel that much pain. He pushed himself into a sitting position and clutched his aching head. He glanced towards the curb and saw a prone body lying face down on the street with a bus stopped inches away from the body. Kei pushed himself to his feet and moved shakily to the body on the ground.

“Someone call an ambulance.” He spat at the frozen crowd as he collapsed next to the body, who happened to be an adult male maybe a little older than himself.

He didn’t know if he was supposed to touch the boy or just leave him for the paramedics. He hesitantly pressed his fingers against the man’s neck to search for a pulse and was relieved when he found one. The man shifted under his touch and slowly began to lift his head. Kei clicked his tongue at the man and tried to keep his neck still.

“Oi,” He muttered, “You shouldn’t move, your neck might be damaged.”

A small chuckle left the man’s mouth before his mocha eyes met Kei’s,

“Still trying to look after me after all this time aren’t ya Kei.”

Kei froze when he heard the man say his name. He actually looked at him for the first time and could barely stop his mouth from dropping open. The male had pale, alabaster skin which was covered with blood in some places, messy honey blonde hair and intelligent brown eyes. For the first time in years, the empty space in Kei’s heart swelled with undeniable familiarity and emotion,

“A-Akiteru?”

TBC


	2. Untold Truths

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hospitals, Questions, and Battles, OH MY!
> 
> Before he can even get a chance to understand what is happening to him, Kei's once logical world is thrown into chaos.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's Chapter Two Minna~
> 
> Some more questions are brought to light (punny) and Kei is only just getting a taste for what is to come. I apologize for any OOC-ness that occurs throughout this chapter. I keep rewatching Season 3 of Haikyuu (MVP TSUKI FOR THE WIN) so it's hard for me to go back in time to when Kei clearly showed resentment for his brother's action and hid behind his wall of snide remarks on a daily basis -- maybe I should go back and watch Season 2 ;) 
> 
> Well I tried my best and hope that you all enjoy the chapter regardless!
> 
> \- sktrgrl

The mocha eyes gazed into his honey brown ones with relief, worry and joy. He smiled at Kei and he couldn’t help but smile back at him, no matter how strained their relationship was, despite the situation that they know found their-selves in. Kei hadn’t truly smiled once in the nine years that the brothers had been separated from each other; the limits of his facial expressions being snide, condescending smirks or complete indifference.

The movement from his facial muscles seemed so abnormal to him.

“Akiteru,” He whispered again; tears once again pressing at the back of his eyes.

The blond man opened his mouth to respond, but his body suddenly started to convulse and his eyes rolled into the back of his head. Kei’s heart caught in his chest as fear started to claw relentlessly on every hope that he had just gained back.

“A-Aki?” He repeated frantically; completely disregarding where he was and _who_ he was, “Aki, look at me!”

Kei could hear sirens in the distance, but for some reason relief wouldn’t come. It was like he _knew_ that the paramedics wouldn’t be able to save him on time. It was like he could feel Akiteru’s life draining away.

“No…” He whispered, “No… not again…”

He was four all over again; his mother was lying in the destroyed street as if she were a part of some grotesque work of art. He couldn’t lose his brother; he was the only person that Kei had left and he refused to be separated from his brother when they had just found each other again. At this point, it didn’t matter what had brought them here.

His Anger.

His Resentment.

None of it mattered.

All that mattered was that after all these years alone he was finally reunited with his older brother.

All that mattered in _this moment_ was that he was going to lose _any_ chance he had of being with his brother again.

He didn’t want to be alone…

Not again…

He had to save him…

He had to keep his brother safe…

HE WASN’T GOING TO LOSE HIM AGAIN!

“NO!”

The scream that tore from Kei’s throat didn’t even sound like him. He was never the one to make loud retorts or exclamations. He was the one who normally stood in the back of the class judging the people who made those kinds of remarks. He never felt the need to be passionate about anything.

After all, what was the point?

What was the point of even trying when no matter what he did, he would just end up losing everything he worked for in the end?

It was just easier to spare himself from the disappointment.

But as he sat here on this street; his older brother dying before his eyes…

He knew that his beliefs – his way of existing – wasn’t enough.

Going purely on instinct, Kei shot his arms out and placed his hands over his dying brother; gold light engulfed his entire body and exploded out of his hands, showering Akiteru with warmth. He had to survive, he just had to; if he didn’t survive Kei didn’t know what he would do.

Sharp pains laced through his left eye frequently as the gold light continued to pulsate around Akiteru, but he simply ignored it; he’s been through worse in his life.

“Tsuki,” A voice whispered soothingly, “Stop, you have to stop.”

“I-I can’t!” Kei choked out, “I _need_ to save him.”

“I’m okay now,” A new voice reached through the pounding in his ears; a calloused hand caressed his cheek, “Calm down, I’m alright.”

Almost robotically, Kei’s shaky hands slowly slid from their place on Akiteru’s chest as he noticed that he was now sitting somewhat upright; propped up by one elbow on the road. All the blood, cuts, and bruises that had once decorated the older man’s body had disappeared like magic.

Kei opened his mouth to question him, but exhaustion quickly consumed his body causing the world to swim before his eyes. The world tilted forcing the blond teen to fall to the side; his body falling against something both soft and firm.

“Shh,” A familiar voice whispered soothingly into his ear, “Just rest, we’ll be here when you wake up.”

Even though some part of him was scared that Akiteru was going to disappear when he closed his eyes, he allowed his exhaustion to completely take over. He fell asleep to the sounds of a confused crowd and the delayed arrival of the paramedics.

_How pathetic…_

xXxXxXxXx

The sound of a continuous beeping is what drew Kei out of his comatose-like sleep. His heavy eyelids opened slightly and he was greeted by a bright fluorescent light shining above him. He flinched away from the bright light as his eyes tried to adjust to his surroundings. His vision was slightly fuzzy, which judging from the absent weight from the bridge of his nose meant his glasses were missing, but he tried to strain his eyes to see if he could make out anything around him.

From what he could tell from the white walls around him, the IV drip running from his arm, and that _annoying beeping_ that continued to pound against his eardrums told him that he was lying in a hospital bed. With slightly shaky arms he tried to push himself into a sitting position, but he suddenly felt arms pushing him back down. He felt his joints lock up from the unexpected contact and his chest tightened when he couldn’t see who was touching him.

“Kei,” A voice whispered, “Calm down, it’s just me.”

The blond turned his head to the left, somewhat straining his neck in the process, and could faintly make out Akiteru sitting in a chair next to his bed. A small smile spread across the older blond’s lips when he saw the younger looking over at him. Akiteru pushed himself out of his chair stiffly and pulled Kei into a soft hug and fought back the frown that threatened to spread across his face when he felt Kei tense in his arms.

“I’m so happy you’re alright.” He muttered into the younger’s ear before pulling away.

Kei looked down at his hands and found himself fiddling with his fingers. He was forced to stop however when a familiar set of black frames were placed on top of them. He wrapped his fingers around the frames and slowly slid them onto his face; averting his honey brown eyes from his older brother’s warm gaze.

Kei’s cheeks turned pink as he remembered what happened to bring them to this situation. He did some really embarrassing things out there. He scowled at himself faintly before sighing under his breath. He turned to face Akiteru once more and clicked his tongue when Akiteru’s eyes saddened when he looked into, at least what Kei assumed to be, his unfocused left eye.

“What’s wrong?”

Akiteru failed to hide his flinch at the sound of his voice. Kei fought the need to sigh in exasperation and tried to wait for his brother to gather his thoughts. He found himself fiddling with his fingers again as he waited in the tense silence. He just wished that his brother would just say whatever was on his mind already. He frowned to himself as he found his thoughts drifting to the events of earlier that day.

His eyebrows furrowed thoughtfully; did that really happen earlier that day?

How long has he been at the hospital anyways?

He was about to ask Akiteru that exact question when his older brother seemed to have finally found his voice and asked him a question of his own,

“What – What happened today Kei?”

The younger blond frowned,

“I’m not sure and even if I did know what was going on, I doubt you would believe me.”

Akiteru raised an inquisitive eyebrow,

“You think so?”

Kei rolled his eyes before glancing away from his brother’s stare,

“Well obviously; it’s not like any of it was fundamentally possible or logical.”

He felt a hand fall on his shoulder and squeeze,

“Try me.”

Kei found himself freezing from the contact, but forced himself to relax as much as he could. Even when they were children his brother was a physical human being and often showed his like and affection for people through touch. It wasn’t his brother’s fault that Kei didn’t react well to that kind of stuff.

Well…at least he wasn’t all the reason why.

The blond turned his gaze towards his brother once more and sighed. He really was doing that a lot more than usual. How lame. He found himself absently fiddling with his fingers again as he tried to search for the right words.

He didn’t want to sound like he had completely lost his mind after all.

That would be rather inconvenient.

“Some woman approached me in an alley after an appointment and she claimed to sense some ‘power’ in me. And to be honest I believed her to be a fake and a con artist until I was suddenly left half-blind and these weird ‘magic powers’ that can _heal_ people…”

Silence reached his statement and he felt the need to fold into himself so that he could hide.

God that really sounded insane. His brother was probably going to lock him up in this hospital for the rest of his days.

And at this point, he honestly couldn’t blame him. Whatever happened earlier had to be the result of a mental breakdown or something. Magical healing? It just wasn’t possible.

But…

He found his eyes trailing up and down his brother’s stiffened frame. There _was_ a surprising lack of injuries considering the fact that Akiteru was hit by a bus. And there was also the fact that he _was_ suddenly blind in his left eye and there was absolutely no way he could have dreamt up the gold light that had shot out of his hands and washed over his brother.

All the facts were laid out plainly in front of him like a map and they couldn’t be ignored. He wasn’t one to ignore the things that he could see with his own eyes.

But _this_ ; could he truly believe in something like this?

Akiteru’s sigh of frustration pulled him out of his musings and he watched as his older brother ran his fingers through his hair. Kei had to fight back the smile that wanted to sprout across his face upon seeing the familiar action. Despite all the years that have passed, Akiteru still had that nervous tick.

“So you remember doing that? You remember what you did?”

Kei felt something settle in his gut as he analysed his brother’s face,

“I guess. But you don’t seem all that surprised Nii-san.”

All of the colour seemed to drain from his face as Akiteru cursed under his breath and turned away from his slightly confused brother. He paced around the room muttering under his breath. The younger blond tangled his hospital blanket between his fingers as his eyes followed his brother’s movements. He has never seen his brother this agitated before – not even when they were in _that_ house.

“Your anxiety attacks,” Akiteru whispered suddenly as he turned back towards his brother, “Have you felt someone watching you lately?”

Kei felt himself freeze at his brother’s question. He never realized it at the time, hell he probably would never have realized it if Aki hadn’t brought it up. Yes, his anxiety and panic attacks were frequent – admittedly more frequent than he would ever like to admit to his adoptive parents and Yamaguchi – but it was only now as Akiteru asked that question that he realized that the answer was _yes_. In those moments when his attacks were at their worst, he did feel as if eyes were watching his every move; he just never thought anything of it.

His silence must have been the answer that the older blond needed because his hand struck out and latched onto his pale wrist.

“We have to get out of here.”

Before Kei could even say otherwise, Akiteru tossed him his street clothes from earlier that day – he fought back the blush that spread across his face as he realized that he was wearing one of those _stupid_ hospital gowns – and exited the room to stand outside the door. The teen changed his clothes as though he were on autopilot only to pause when the IV in his hand was brought to his attention.

Now that was a tad problematic.

He must have been taking too long for Akiteru’s taste because the older man came rushing back in the room only to pause when he noticed that Kei was only half dressed.

“Kei, we need to get going _now_. Why are you hesitating?”

The blond scowled at his brother’s persistence and the all too familiar gleam that echoed in his eyes. That fire might not have been extinguished by _that_ place, but it was still something that Kei attributed to the suffering that was brought upon the both of them. It was that _confidence_ and _spirit_ that cost Akiteru dearly.

That persistence nearly _destroyed_ him.

It was because of that persistence that Kei’s absolute trust in his brother was broken.

Clearly believing that Kei was not going to move on his own, Akiteru all but ran to his side and made quick work of the IV and wires that were attached to him. Kei grit his teeth from the sting of the IV being torn from his vein and sucked briefly on the surface of his hand when it started to bleed. Of course he was forced to stop when Akiteru also took it upon himself to grab Kei’s hoodie out of his hands and pull it over his head for him – displacing his glasses in the process.

“Nii-san,” Kei ground out sternly, “Why are you making such a big deal about this? Why do we have to run out of here all of a sudden?”

“I promise I’ll explain everything soon Kei,” Akiteru grabbed onto his hand and pulled him out of the bed and towards the door without looking back.

Akiteru ran through the sterile halls, holding onto his wrist tightly and still muttering under his breath. Kei distinctly heard the words ‘airhead’, ‘where the hell is he’ and ‘Hinata better not be sick again’.

“Nii-san?” He demanded rather impatiently, “What’s going on?”

The older teen sighed in frustration,

“Kei, I told you I’ll explain everything as soon as we get out of here.”

The blond bristled at his brother’s sharp tone and was about to argue when a sickening dark feeling seemed to drift toward him. He gazed around the strangely empty hallways searching for the source of the sickening feeling. When he couldn’t find anyone, he focused on keeping up with Akiteru. He had a feeling that his older brother knew what was going on and it pissed him off that he was left in the dark, after all, he wasn’t a little kid anymore; he could handle it, whatever _it_ is.

“Tell me what’s going on,” He demanded again; attempting to dig his heels in, “Now.”

Akiteru ignored him and continued to drag him down the hall and around the corner. Kei could feel his anger building up inside him and was about to retort when the darkness he was feeling intensified. He could feel the darkness shooting towards them like a rocket; murderous intent amplified into his mind.

Out of instinct Kei ripped his arm out of Akiteru’s hand and pushed the older man against the wall, with strength he did not know that he possessed, while he dropped to the floor. A bright green light shot over him and smashed into the wall at the end of the corridor causing it to explode into a million pieces. The debris flew towards the two brothers at high speeds prompting Kei to cover his head protectively.

Surprisingly, nothing hit him.

Kei lifted his head cautiously and he felt his mouth drop open in disbelief. A shield of pure orange light erected itself like a wall in front of his body and the debris was scattered on the floor behind it. _Yamaguchi Tadashi_ was standing protectively in front of him, his hands brought together in some sort of sign with a strange symbol hovering in front of his face.

“Yamaguchi?” Kei stuttered, “What the hell…”

The symbol in front of his best friend faded into nothing. Yamaguchi reached out his hand to Kei where he lay on the floor staring up at him in disbelief. When Kei didn’t move, the freckled teen shook his head somewhat fondly before he took it upon himself to wrap his hand around Kei’s and pulled him to his feet.

“Run!” He ordered as he took off, with Kei’s hand still in his, down the hallway; Akiteru trailing close behind.

Only they didn’t manage to get very far when another bolt of green light struck the tile right in front of Yamaguchi’s path causing the three of them to slide into each other as they tried to stop momentum. It was honestly a miracle that they managed to stay on their feet. Before Kei could even begin to process what was happening, he was nudged backwards and found himself staring that the backs of both Yamaguchi and Akiteru as they _guarded him_.

This was something that he had never expected to see.

Well, Akiteru made sense; he pulled protective stuff like this all the time when they were younger.

Who he was surprised by was Yamaguchi.

Ever since Kei had met him, he was the one who had to protect Yamaguchi.

Be it from his own shadow.

Be it from bullies picking on him because of the freckles on his cheeks.

Kei was the one who stood in front of Yamaguchi and scared off any attackers through intimidation alone.

“Tsuki,” Yamaguchi’s serious voice snapped him out of his thoughts, “You need to keep running.”

But here is best friend was…

The scaredy cat known for running away…

He was standing…

He was going to fight…

“ _Kei_ ,” Yamaguchi grabbed his attention once more; his arm spread out to the side and his brown eyes not leaving the shadow that appeared in front of them through the debris and carnage, “You need to _run_ , Aki-nii and I will handle this.”

Kei wanted to listen to the younger teen, but he couldn’t; it was like he was frozen in place. His eyes couldn’t move away from the person standing across from them. The man standing across from them was tall, though probably not as tall as Kei himself, and dark hair that was mostly slicked back except for some bangs that hung over one of his snake-like eyes.

Under normal circumstances, Kei would not have been afraid. Even now, the rational part of his mind was taking the time to tell him that the man was most likely a poser who talked big, but had nothing to back it up. But what scared him the most was the sadistic smirk on the man’s face and the murderous glare the man’s dark gaze was shooting, not at Yamaguchi or Akiteru, but at Kei.

Now, don’t be mistaken.

Kei was very aware that he could be an incorrigible bastard and that he might like pushing other people’s buttons maybe a _little_ too much. But he knew for a fact that he had never seen this person before in his life. So he had absolutely no idea what this guy’s issue was. He fought the urge to shrink in on himself as the man’s eyes dissected him.

“Ah,” The man smirked slyly, “It’s been a long time hasn’t it? I was beginning to wonder if this day would ever truly come.”

When no one said anything, the man cackled:

“Don’t be so tense, I’m only here to see that young Kei here has the chance to be what he was always meant to be.”

Kei’s brown eyes narrowed in confusion and his stomach swam in apprehension,

“What…”

“Kei,” Akiteru warned, “Don’t listen to a word that bastard says.”

“Oh c’mon Aki,” A green glow began to gather in the man’s hands; his eyes still never leaving Kei’s, “Don’t you want to tell him where his powers come from? Doesn’t he deserve to know why he has the Light that he has or do you want him to be left in the dark?”

It would be a lie if he didn’t say that _he_ wasn’t curious.

Kei wanted to know what was happening to him, but he trusted this man in front of him only as far as he could throw him and judging by the man’s size that wouldn’t be too far. Even with everything that happened between himself and Akiteru in the past, he trusted his older brother to tell him the truth later.

But at the same time, he felt that Akiteru would withhold information to keep him safe; that’s just who he was.

Kei was regrettably torn and that terrified him to no end; it made him think that he saw his own brother as a complete stranger and, in a sense, he was. At the same time, the green light that the man held seemed painfully familiar and extremely dark; so dark, that it made him sick to his stomach.

“Shut the fuck up Daishou,” Akiteru growled, “I won’t let you take him.”

“That makes two of us.” Yamaguchi nodded his head resolutely.

The man, Daishou, smiled with his teeth barred dangerously,

“I’m not sure how well Tokai would be willing to accept that.”

_...Tokai_

Kei’s legs gave out from under him as the man’s name reverberated through his already confused mind. He thought back to the memory that Dr. Takeda had brought up at their last meeting. He tried to remember exactly what the words next to his mother’s body read; he felt like Tokai had something to do with it.

He closed his eyes in deep concentration, recreating the dreadful memory block by block. He was always considered to be smart – it was time that he had finally put his brain to use. After a few moments his eyes snapped open; the message fully re-made in his mind.

_Kill Tokai. Keep him safe._

“Mom.”

Akiteru flinched as if he had been struck,

“Kei…”

“Nii-san, he’s the one who killed mom wasn’t he…”

The older male nodded his head slightly and the younger blond felt something in his chest shatter,

“S-She died because of me?”

Akiteru and Yamaguchi glanced back at his brother, the staring contest finally broken, and they instantly felt the need to pull him into his arms and tell him that it wasn’t his fault. Their eyes were forced to snap back to Daishou when the man burst into laughter that shook the halls.

“Of course she died because of you,” He smiled, “If you weren’t such a _monster_ , she wouldn’t have had to die.”

“How dare you,” Yamaguchi growled and quickly drew a symbol into the air, “Tsuki is not the monster here Daishou, _you_ are.”

Suddenly, an orange force field appeared in front of Yamaguchi and without hesitation he plunged his hand into it. In mere moments, his hand came back out his hand wrapped tightly around a quiver and bow.

Daishou’s laughter struck the air again,

“You honestly something like _that_ is going to stop _me_?”

“Maybe not alone,” Akiteru stated, “Don’t forget that I’m still here asshole.”

Kei watched with wide eyes as Akiteru was swallowed by a pale silver light and Yamaguchi readied his bow.

He didn’t even _know_ Yamaguchi could touch a bow, let alone _shoot_ one.

Just how much was Yamaguchi hiding from him?

For how long?

“Let’s have some fun.” Yamaguchi smirked slightly as he released his arrow.

Kei watched in almost a trance-like state as that one single arrow shot towards Daishou; whose green light had been getting stronger and stronger by the moment.

There was absolutely no way that this was going to work.

The thought hadn’t even completely crossed his mind when the arrow was suddenly engulfed in the same pale silver light that had enveloped Akiteru; and it didn’t stop there. As soon as the light swallowed the arrow entirely, it quivered slightly before suddenly, that lone arrow became over one hundred – all of them shooting towards Daishou who was staring at the impending attack with wide eyes.

The attack struck home like a barrage of bullets and caused smoke and more debris to spray into the hallway effectively blocking the three of them from view. With Daishou briefly distracted, Akiteru and Yamaguchi each ran to Kei, grabbed a hand, and pulled him to his feet. He was really getting sick of freezing up and having to be dragged everywhere.

“Where the hell do you think you’re going?”

Countless green beams broke through the man-made smoke screen and struck Akiteru in the shoulder sending them off balance and colliding with the ground. Kei grunted as he struggled to his knees once more; breathing and coughing heavily in an effort to clear the dust out of his lungs.

Yamaguchi had rolled after impact and was rising to his knees on the other side of the hall. Kei noted that although his best friend was a little on the dusty side, he seemed to be alright. Akiteru on the other hand was curled in on himself with blood drooling sluggishly from his shoulder.

Kei crawled over to his brother and was about to try and summon the golden light again, because he was supposed to be able to do so, when Akiteru shakily grabbed Kei’s hands and pushed them away,

“Don’t.”

“Nii-san.” Kei scowled at his brother and pulled his hands out of reach, “Stop being difficult.”

“I’ll be fine,” Akiteru grunted as he pushed himself onto his knees and he held his shoulder, “You’ll end up hurting yourself.”

Kei clicked his tongue in annoyance when Daishou’s laughter erupted through the smoke. Akiteru immediately pulled Kei so that he sat behind his older brother and out of the line of fire. With the older blond distracted by Daishou, the younger teen hastily called upon the golden light that had been unconsciously singing in his veins through the entire altercation and held his hands over Akiteru’s damaged shoulder.

“Kei!” Akiteru barked as the warmth of the light bathed over his shoulder, “What did I tell you?!”

“I know what you told me,” Kei snapped; his eyes narrowed in focus, “I didn’t listen to you when I was eight and I’m not going to listen to you now.”

Daishou laughed again and aimed another beam at the two brothers. Akiteru pushed Kei out of the way and then jumped from the line of fire. However, he reacted too soon and Daishou changed his aim towards Kei.

“Like always Akiteru,” Daishou smiled darkly, “You jump the gun.”

“NO!”

Kei sat frozen as the green light headed straight at him. He could feel his heart beating in his chest and the blood pounding in his ears. He could hear Yamaguchi’s running footsteps and his brother’s voice screaming his name, but he couldn’t make his muscles move. He closed his eyes expecting the impact, only for it to never land. Kei opened his eyes and was surprised to see another person standing in front of him; someone who was not Yamaguchi or Akiteru.

The man had dark black jeans, a red t-shirt and a black leather jacket. What was even more surprising to him was the man’s hairstyle; if you could even call that a style? Did the dumbass just roll out of bed or something?

The mystery man’s palms were facing towards Daishou and a barrage of water had attacked the green beam just moments before it touched Kei. The man turned to Kei with a relieved smirk placed firmly on his tanned face. His cat-like golden brown eyes seemed to spark and flare despite the water that had just shot out of his hands and Kei couldn’t help but be drawn to them.

“Sorry we were late Akiteru, Freckles,” The teen laughed as he ran his hand through his hair, “The train was a bitch.”

TBC

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1 Guess for our mysterious man at the end of the chapter ;) <3
> 
> I hope I characterized Tsuki, Yamaguchi, Akiteru, Daishou and Kuroo (no matter how brief his appearance was) appropriately! It's a learning process! 
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	3. Guardians

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Escaping from darkness and meeting new faces, what could go wrong?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New Chapter Minna!! :)
> 
> I once again apologize for all of the OOC-ness!! Especially in regards to all the new characters LOL I hope everyone still enjoys the chapter regardless; even if it is focused on a lot of talking and meeting the new characters!!
> 
> -sktrgrl

Kei continued to stare at the man standing before him with his mouth hanging open ever so ‘attractively’. The blond glanced from the stranger to Akiteru (who was giving the most intense death glare ever; which surprised him since he had never truly seen a look like that on his brother’s face before), to Yamaguchi (who resembled someone who had performed ten life-saving surgeries back-to-back), and finally back to the stranger to see that he still had that dumb smirk on his face.

He then turned to the dumbfounded and very pissed off Daishou who had, until only moments ago, looked as if he was going to walk out of the hospital without a hitch. Kei shakily pushed himself to his feet and dusted some of the debris off of his clothing while he tried to teach himself how to breathe again. He opened his mouth to ask what the hell was going on when the stranger suddenly wrapped his arm around his waist and lifted him over shoulder; which quite honestly should _not_ have been possible considering how tall he was.

“W-What the hell?!” Kei struggled fruitlessly against his grip, “W-What are you doing?!”

The clearly psychotic stranger simply laughed at his outburst before turning his back on Daishou with a mock salute in his direction while running in the opposite direction. He watched as Yamaguchi hastily erected another wall of orange light before taking off after them. As the four of them rounded the corner, the sound of Daishou’s enraged screamed echoed around them as a foreboding promise for revenge.

Kei tried struggling again to signal that he wanted to be let down, but the stranger instead held him even tighter so that he wouldn’t fall on his head. Kei knew he was safe because this stranger obviously knew Yamaguchi and his brother, but clearly the bedheaded asshole didn’t know how to take a hint.

“Hey,” Akiteru called as he ran so that he was now beside him, “Are the others here too?”

“Others?” Kei mumbled under his breath.

“Yeah, they’re waiting in the forest.” The raven haired man smiled, “We’ll leave Miyagi right as soon as we meet up.”

“Leave?” Kei repeated, but was once again ignored.

“Good, after all, we don’t know if Daishou has reinforcements.” Yamaguchi agreed breathlessly, “We need to get out of here as soon as possible.”

“Wha--”

“That won’t be a problem,” The raven stated as they turned another corner, “Matsun said something about Iwa having…”

Kei scowled as he was talked over once more. Out of the corner of his eye he could see his older brother opening his mouth to say something else, but at that moment something inside of him just _snapped_.

“WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?!” He interrupted angrily, “and put me down or I’m going to hit you so hard that your ridiculous hair will lie flat!”

The raven once again laughed, more like cackled, at him before slowing down to a stop before putting the younger teen on his feet,

“Wow Akiteru, you never said that your brother was this feisty.”

Kei clicked his tongue in frustration and proceeded to walk away from them mumbling under his breath angrily. At this point he didn’t care that there was a raving lunatic running around the hospital looking for him; he wanted to get as far away from his brother, best friend (if he could even still refer to Yamaguchi as such), and the bedhead as he could. A calloused hand latched onto his wrist halting his movement and calmness, security and warmth started to flow into his body immediately soothing his angry thoughts.

Unwillingly, he released a calming breath and looked back at the three people standing behind him. The raven was the one holding onto his wrist, Akiteru was looking at him with a mixture of apprehension and fear, while Yamaguchi was regarding him almost sadly. Kei yanked his arm out of the stranger’s grip and his anger slowly started simmering in his chest all over again. He schooled somewhat of an indifferent expression on his face.

Indifference was his security blanket – the one thing he could turn to when he felt as though his whole world was falling apart.

“Now that I finally have your attentions, are you going to tell me what the _hell_ is going on?” He muttered, “Like, who are you, what’s with the strange powers, why do I have to leave Miyagi, and why does some jerkwad want me dead?!”

Once again silence seemed to reign. Kei looked from two sets of brown eyes to a set of goldish-amber and back again waiting for one of them to answer. He clenched his fists at his side as they all continued to stare at him with an almost blank stare on their faces.

“Tch,” He crossed his arms over his chest and looked away from them, “This is ridiculous.”

“Ridiculous, huh?” The raven smirked as he rubbed the back of his neck, “That’s an interesting way of looking at the situation.”

Kei rolled his eyes and started to tug at his fingers absently.

“Listen, Tsukki,” Yamaguchi waved his hands calmly, “it’s neither the time nor place for us to explain everything; it’s a very long story.”

“Shut up Yamaguchi.”

The brunette flinched as though he had been struck and quite honestly, Kei couldn’t blame him. For all the times that he said that line to Yamaguchi, this is probably the first time that he had said it to him and _meant it_.

Akiteru had caught onto the connotation as well, as the older blond moved forward to intervene. However, before he could so much as utter a sound, the raven haired man stepped forward and held out his hand. A warm smile was spread across his tanned face and merriment shone in his golden eyes. Kei frowned down at the hand before glancing into the raven’s eyes once more; he really was like an overgrown child.

“The name’s Kuroo, Kuroo Tetsurou.” He introduced himself, “I met your brother and your friend a couple of years ago because of an _assignment_.”

Kei hesitated briefly before placing his own hand in Kuroo’s,

“I’m Tsukishima Kei.”

As he was about to retract his hand, Kei’s left eye burned excruciatingly and images that held no meaning for him started to run through his mind…

_A small boy with raven hair around the age of four or five was sitting in a forest clearing next to another boy with feline-like features._

_“Don’t worry Ken-chan, we’ll get stronger!”_

_The feline boy nodded his head and hummed in silent agreement. To the untrained eye it would seem as though the boy was trying to appease his friend, but if one were to look close enough they would be able to see fondness in his slitted eyes._

Before he could even question it the scene changed…

 _The same raven haired boy, maybe a few years older now, with the same feline boy learning how to control the Water Element that he possessed._ _The boy jumped onto his friend’s back with his arms around his neck (despite the fact that he was much bigger) in celebration when he perfected the technique he was practicing._

_“Ne, Ken-chan?” The raven jumped of the other boy’s back and ruffled his now blond hair, “Do you think I’ll be able to protect him?”_

_The other boy shrugged his shoulders and didn’t answer; turning his attention once again to the game that he had in hands. The raven whined from the lack of an answer and continued jumping around asking questions._

_The boy didn’t understand why his friend was asking such pointless questions – of course the raven would be strong enough; he was strong already._

The scene changed again…

_Now the raven haired boy was alone; he seemed to be searching for something. Tears ran down his cheeks and his chest heaved as he ran around the clearing that he and the feline-boy had played in for years only to find that it was empty. He lifted his head to the overcast sky and shouted his agony to the listening world:_

_“KENMA!”_

xXxXxXxXx

“Kei, wake up!” A voice called, “Can you hear me?!”

The blond’s eyes slowly opened to meet the anxious eyes of Akiteru. Kei glanced around himself and noticed that he was surrounded by tall pine trees and that the hospital was now a good distance away. Akiteru wrapped an arm around his shoulders and helped him into a sitting position. A pounding headache was coursing through his head as he tried to comprehend what he just witnessed; slitted golden eyes and a raven’s tears echoing through his mind. Kei scanned the area again and realized that the raven and Yamaguchi were nowhere in sight.

“What happened?” His voice cracked, “Where did they go?”

Akiteru shrugged his shoulders and chewed on the corner of his lip before answering,

“I’m not too sure what happened; Kuroo said that it was probably because you were tired. As for their whereabouts, they went to gather the others so we can fill you in on what’s going on.”

Kei sighed and massaged his temples,

“Nii-san, I swear that if you don’t explain anything clearly, I’m never going to speak to you again."

“Well that would be sort of pointless now wouldn’t it.”

The siblings turned their heads to see the aforementioned raven, Yamaguchi and four other strangers, all of them male, walking towards them from the treeline. Kei rolled his eyes and pushed himself shakily to his feet again and shrugged off Akiteru’s hands before advancing on the group coming towards them.

He was so _done_ with meeting people today.

“It’s a figure of speech idiot.”

“HEY, HEY, HEY!” A boisterous voice announced loudly before he threw his arms around the tallest Tsukishima in a huge hug, “You’re taller than I thought you would be!”

Kei felt his eye twitch in annoyance and turned towards the obnoxious individual to tell him to release him; only to choke on his spit as his eyes landed on the stranger. He was about as tall as Kuroo was, but definitely more muscular. There was absolutely no doubt in Kei’s mind that this man could probably accidentally kill someone simply by giving them a hug.

Also like Kuroo, the man had an interesting hairstyle – his hair was shaped into twin silver and black spikes – and he too had golden eyes, but his were more luminescent. While Kuroo seemed more cat-like in nature, he would have to say that this man resembled a horned owl. Not to mention he was as hot as a _furnace_.

Just _who_ were these people?!

A man with slightly curly brown hair and piercing, yet bored looking, gun metal blue eyes sighed and stepped towards Kei and the leech that had decided to latch onto him. Judging by the stoic face and the ‘no-nonsense’ attitude of the brown haired man, Kei could tell that this person could possibly be the sanest person that he has met today.

“Bokuto-san, calm down please; you’re going to make him uncomfortable.”

“But ‘Kaashiiiiiiii!” The leech, now known as ‘Bokuto-san’ whined in his ear, “I’m just saying hello.”

“I understand that Bokuto-san,” The brown haired male patted his shoulder in mock comfort, “But Tsukishima-kun has been through a lot today as it is without you attacking him the first chance you get.”

Bokuto seems to slump over Kei’s shoulder in defeat before sliding right off his tall frame and slinking over to stand with the others. Kei shivered slightly due to the sudden loss of warmth, but a small grateful smile tweaked the corner of his lips as he nodded thankfully at the brown haired individual.

“I am sorry about Bokuto-san,” He stated, “He can get a little overbearing sometimes, but he means well.”

“I noticed,” Kei watched as Kuroo patted Bokuto’s back and said something to him, “Uh, thank you…”

“Akaashi,” The brown haired man stuck his hand in his pockets, “Akaashi Keiji.”

Kei nodded at Akaashi in acknowledgement and found his eyes wandering over to Kuroo, Bokuto and the others who had appeared with Yamaguchi. He knew for a fact that he did not recognize any of them, which means that Kei was either losing his touch or these people were not from the Miyagi area. And since he definitely was _not_ losing his observational skills, that means the only solution was that they were not from around the area.

That being said, if that were true just how did Yamaguchi meet them?

Now he knew that Yamaguchi was a likeable person, and when he tried he was very adept at being friendly and making friends. In fact, you could almost say that it would be easy for him. Or it would be easy if his social anxiety did not get the best of him so much. If Kei had to guess, Yamaguchi’s timid approach to new people probably stemmed from his childhood experiences with bullying, and it was because of this timid nature that he did not reach out to people that often.

Sure he was polite enough to strangers, but he never specifically went out of his way to talk to them. He only ever talked to Kei. Yet, here he was talking with all these new and _strange_ people as if he had known them his entire life.

It made him wonder if he had ever known Yamaguchi Tadashi at all.

“Tsukishima-kun,” Akaashi’s monotonous voice reached his ears, “Is there something on your mind?”

Kei looked at the stoic man out of the corner of his eye and tugged on his pinky absently,

“Akaashi-san, if you don’t mind me asking you directly, who are you people and what are you doing here?”

It was as if a bomb had been dropped in the middle of the forest.

All of the mindless chatter that had been going on in the background came to a stop. A tension that was not blatantly present a second ago was now growing like an impending storm.

“Tsukishima…” Akaashi blinked up at him with something like surprise on his face, “Do you not know?”

Kei’s shoulders rose up towards his ears defensively,

“Know what?”

Once again Kei felt he was being ignored when Akaashi turned his gaze towards the older Tsukishima who was standing behind Kei silently during the entire exchange. Which, if he thought about it now, was kind of a strange behaviour for the older brother.

“Tsukishima-san,” Akaashi’s eyes narrowed, “How much _have_ you told him?”

Akiteru tensed under the dark brown haired male’s scrutiny and rubbed the back of his neck,

“Well, you see, there hasn’t been much time to do any talking with Daishou and all…”

“Hold on,” A gruff voice interrupted from the group surrounding Kuroo and Yamaguchi, “Are you saying that he knows absolutely _nothing_?”

Kei frowned at the male; bristling at the implication of his incompetence,

“It’s not like I haven’t been _asking_. Do you think I like being dragged around everywhere without knowing what is going on.”

If anything, it seemed that Kei’s response wasn’t what the male had wanted to hear. The male made to approach him only for another tall man in the group with dark curly hair and almost lazy eyes to put a hand on his shoulder.

“Now Iwa,” The male said teasingly, “Don’t go scaring the poor kid like the brute you are. We want him to like us remember?”

Somehow the scowl that was planted on the angry male, Iwa’s, face seemed to deepen. Kei was also pretty sure that a vein was starting to protrude from his forehead in annoyance. He swatted the hand off his shoulder and shifted his stance to face the man who had touched him.

“Say that again Matsukawa, I dare you.”

“Now, now,” Yamaguchi, ever the peacemaker, spoke up with a slight stutter; his hands waving around nervously, “We were going to tell him once we introduced him to everyone. Aki-nii, Kuroo-san and I thought that it would make things a little easier on Tsukki…”

Kei frowned slightly at Yamaguchi’s statement. Although he was somewhat thankful for his friend stepping in, he didn’t exactly approve of some of the things that he said. He made it sound as though Kei had needed to be handled delicately or something. How lame.

“Well don’t you think it would be easier to tell him that he’s basically a god, then tell him who we are?” The other curly brown haired male, now known as Matsukawa, teased.

Kei felt his eyes widen from beneath his glasses and he was pretty sure his mouth dropped open slightly,

“What? That has to be the worst joke that I have ever heard – on what planet would I ever be a _god_?”

The blond’s eyes landed on every single person in the forest, hoping, that someone would burst into laughter and say ‘we sure got you good!’; but of course the world was essentially against his very existence and that didn’t happen. In a last ditch effort, Kei turned so his eyes were on Akiteru,

“Tell me he isn’t serious.”

Akiteru sighed sadly and ran his hand through his hair nervously,

“I would if I could, but the facts are you are generally a ‘god-like’ being… all magic-users technically are.”

Kei stared blankly at his brother,

“So now there’s magic too.”

“Well yeah!” Bokuto shouted excitedly, gaining Kei’s attention, “What else would you call what we can do? What _you_ can do?”

He clenched his fists and looked at his feet, but movement out of the corner of his eye caused him to look up again. Kuroo slowly approached him calmly and gently placed his hands on Kei’s shoulders in a clear attempt to ground him.

“Well, _our_ first clue is your eye. Ever since the woman in the alleyway ‘unsealed’ it you’ve been experiencing strange things haven’t you?”

Kei’s eyes narrowed suspiciously and avoided the question,

“How do you know about the alleyway?”

“That’s not important right now,” Kuroo evaded just as easily, “But you have been experiencing things right?”

“If you mean the stuff with Dai…”

“No…” The raven interrupted, “I mean with you as a person.”

When Kei didn’t answer, Kuroo sighed and pushed forward:

“You can do things that normal people shouldn’t be able to do. When Akiteru saved you from getting hit by that bus earlier, he _died_ , but you brought him back to life.”

The blond felt the colour drain from his face and his gaze shot over to his silent brother who refused to look him in the eye,

“No, that, that’s impossible…”

“Not only that,” Kuroo continued as though he hadn’t been interrupted, “But you’re also empathetic; you can sense the feelings and emotions of those around you.”

Kei blinked at him for a moment before a barely contained laugh burst out of him. He immediately covered his mouth in an attempt to squash it down, but he still had to take a few moments to gather himself before he could even begin to say anything.

“Okay, now that’s where I know you screwed up.”

“What makes you say that Tsukishima-kun?”

Kei turned towards Akaashi who was watching him with that same blank stare; which was now accompanied by a raised eyebrow,

“Because I’m an asshole.”

“Hey, Hey, Hey Tsukki,” Bokuto sauntered up to him and threw an arm around his shoulders once more with a bright smile on his face, “That doesn’t prove anything!”

Kei sighed in exasperation and adjusted his glasses,

“And why would that be Bokuto-san?”

“Well,” Bokuto hummed almost thoughtfully; Kei could almost see the gears in his brain turning, “Kuroo is an asshole and he’s one of the nicest guys I know…”

Kuroo squawked in indignation as a small wave of snickers echoed around Kei,

“Bro, you wound me!”

Bokuto rolled his eyes and punched Kuroo’s shoulder teasingly,

“You know it’s true bro so don’t even deny it…and I had another thing to say, but now I forget it!”

Kuroo pouted dramatically and turned his gaze on the unimpressed Kei,

“Listen Tsukki, I just met you and even I know you’re as salty as a soda cracker, but I also know that you’re very sensitive to the emotions and intentions of those around you. It’s evident in the way that you observe people and can find what buttons to push to get a reaction out of them. You also experienced it with me on the way here, when you picked up my past memories.”

Kei backed out of the older raven’s grip and was about to deny everything he just said, but in reality, he knew that he couldn’t. Everything Kuroo just said was true, and there was nothing that could refute those facts. He was always adept at picking out people’s reactions and sensitive spots just by looking at them or talking to them for a brief time. And it’s true that his observations have been deeper since the encounter in the alleyway…

And that dream he had after he shook Kuroo’s hand…they actually _were_ his memories…

However, just thought of being a type of god was way out in left field; there was no way in hell that his mind would be able to comprehend that. Especially with all the horrible things that he’s done by using his observations against other people to bring them down when his own insecurities got in the way.

“Okay, if I’m supposed to be some sort of ‘god’, then who and what are you guys?” Kei demanded defensively, “I’m assuming you all have some type of ability; I’ve seen Nii-san, Yamaguchi and Kuroo-san’s abilities in action.”

“That’s easy to answer!” Bokuto laughed loudly in his ear as he smooshed his face right alongside his, “We’re your protectors.”

“Protectors?” Kei’s eye twitched at the closeness.

“Yes,” Akaashi affirmed as he peeled the laughing horned owl Kei, “I guess you could compare us to guardian angels or perhaps even knights, only we’re probably ten times more violent and more prone to bloodshed.”

“Oh that’s just great…” Kei shifted uncomfortably at Akaashi’s deadpan tone.

“Well there’s not much you can do about it,” Iwa muttered broodingly; his fist clenched at his side, “We didn’t choose this life either.”

Kei regarded Iwa’s tense stature and looked away from him. There was something _vulnerable_ in his forest green eyes, and the blond couldn’t find it in himself to gaze that long. From that brief glance alone he was able to pick up feelings of self-loathing and guilt – both things that he didn’t feeling like addressing or poking at at the present moment.

“So,” He muttered, “I’ve been… _fortunate_ …to talk with some of you already; but, I haven’t had the chance to introduce myself formally. You can call me Tsukishima if you would like.”

Almost before he could get the sentence out the tall, dark curly-haired male stepped towards him and held his hand out. It was only now that he was up close that he noticed that Matsukawa (at least he thought that was his name) was wearing armour. He was smiling at the blond, but Kei couldn’t help but feel a spark of apprehension when he looked at him like that.

He had a feeling that Matsukawa, albeit friendly, would not hesitate to go to violence should the need call for it. That being said, Kei could tell that Matsukawa had a lot of patience and tended to stick with wordplay more than his fists. Kei held out his own hand and immediately got a flashback to before when he shook Kuroo’s hand.

Would he get a play-by-play of everyone’s life if he so much as touched them?

“My name’s Matsukawa Issei,” He grabbed his hand; the coolness of the armour plating pressing against his palm, “It’s nice to meet you.”

Luckily, no memories appeared, so Kei relaxed slightly and nodded his head in response. He could practically hear his brother and Yamaguchi glaring holes into the back of his head for not saying anything in return, but he was not up for their opinions on anything at the moment.

The sound of laughter met their ears causing Matsukawa to let go of Kei’s hand and glance at Bokuto with a raised eyebrow,

“What’s so funny?”

“Oh nothing,” Bokuto smiled brightly at them and leaned his head on top of Akaashi’s head.

“Bo,” Matsukawa shook his head almost fondly, “You’re a real hoot do you know that.”

Kei couldn’t stop the snort that escaped him causing everyone to look at him in surprise.

“What?” He scowled defensively.

“Tsukki,” Kuroo smirked at the blond as he leaned into his personal space, “Do you like puns?”

His scowl deepened and he took a step away from the raven,

“As if. That joke was just really horrible.”

Matsukawa shrugged his shoulders,

“Yeah I admit it wasn’t my best; at least Makki wasn’t here to see it.”

Kei watched the tall brunette wander off towards Iwa who was now sitting on a nearby bolder with his legs crossed and his eyes closed.

“Makki?” He whispered.

“Hanamaki Takahiro.” Kuroo voiced right next to his ear making him jump slightly, “He’s not here right now, but you’ll meet him soon.”

“Ah.”

He watched as Matsukawa reached Iwa and sat himself in the grass next to the large boulder. He didn’t make a sound when he sat down, despite the armour he was wearing, but Iwa seemed to twitch as though he had felt the taller brunet’s approach.

“Whatcha staring at Tsukki?”

Kei tore his gaze from Matsukawa and Iwa and scowled at Kuroo,

“Don’t call me Tsukki, it’s Tsukishima.”

Kuroo pouted dramatically,

“You didn’t have a problem with me calling you that earlier…”

The blond sighed and gave the raven a pointed look,

“If you didn’t notice, I was a little preoccupied trying to get answers earlier Kuroo-san.”

The raven shrugged his shoulders, but didn’t say anything else. Kei was sure that he was going to have peace and quiet to think about everything that has been happening only to have Kuroo clear his throat from beside him.

“So, what were you looking at?”

Kei sighed again; he really was doing that _a lot_ lately,

“Nothing in particular Kuroo-san; don’t worry about it.”

The raven hummed under his breath and silence reigned once more. It was a tad uncomfortable, but it wasn’t so much the silence that made it that way. Strangely enough, Kuroo had a pretty relaxing presence – maybe it had something to do with the Water Element that he had control over.

No, what made him uncomfortable was how much this Kuroo standing beside him did and _didn’t_ resemble that little raven haired boy from his dream. There were moments when Kuroo was loud, sarcastic and teasing (particularly with Bokuto), but there were also times like at this moment when he was more like his feline-like friend – quiet and a little subdued. It would be a lie if he said that he wasn’t curious about what happened to Kuroo to make him so sad, but it was not his business.

“His name is Iwaizumi Hajime.”

“What?” Kei tumbled out of his thoughts and stared at Kuroo.

“The one sitting on the rock, his name is Iwaizumi Hajime.”

“Why are you telling me this Kuroo-san?”

The raven smiled slightly,

“Because he probably won’t tell you himself; he tends to be a little closed off.”

The blond turned his gaze towards the shortest member of the group who was still perched on his rock with his eyes closed. Even from this distance he could see that Iwaizumi’s shoulders were tense and that his hands were clasped tightly on his knees. The subtle wind that blew through the trees passed through his spiky brown hair and he was pretty sure that he could see one of Matsukawa’s hands brushing over one of his clenched knuckles.

He knew that Kuroo was not lying to him about Iwaizumi being closed off. He knew that it was in his nature to be difficult to get along with. But he also knew that this distance from Iwaizumi was not in direct relation to him. He may be a contributing factor in some way, but he was not a direct cause – he could _see_ that much.

Kei hummed to himself thoughtfully and fiddled absently with the hem of his hoodie,

“Thank you Kuroo-san.”

Kuroo smirked,

“Not a problem Tsukki.”

TBC

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I just wanted to say that Aki-nii-san and Yama-chan are still there even if they didn't have a big role this chapter!! I'm hoping their roles will become more abundant in subsequent chapters, but I really wanted to focus on meeting some of the new characters that came in (plus Tsukki is kind of mad at them right now, so he doesn't want to address them -- Akiteru feels guilty so he feels like he can't add anything to the conversation and Yama-chan is our peacekeeper LOL) 
> 
> Thank you for reading!


	4. The Calm Before the Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kei gets to know his so-called "Guardians" a little more, and another battle erupts - will they ever catch a break?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's chapter 4 Minna!~
> 
> I hope you enjoy the chapter and I hope it makes sense!! More OOC-ness is afoot, but I am really trying to incorporate as much of their personalities as possible! Also Yama-chan and Aki-nii-san once again don't say much this chapter, but they will definitely be more involved next chapter - promise!! 
> 
> I also hope that the battle sequence isn't too lame -- I struggle with those sometimes LOL especially since Tsukki isn't directly involved with the fighting this time around.
> 
> -sktrgrl

Kei wandered away from ‘his protectors’ as they all talked amongst themselves, or in Iwa’s case meditated on a rock in silence, and leaned against the trunks of one of the nearby trees and stared up at the darkening sky. The sky still had the pinkish-yellow hues of sunset, but he could see the light colours giving way to the sweet colour of deep indigo.

He slid down the rough bark of the tree until his butt landed on the gnarled roots and pulled his knees up to his chest while resting his head in his arms exhaustedly. All he wanted to do was go to sleep, but he felt that if he so much as closed his eyes, he would wake up a new place because they deemed it necessary to carry him…again. He was getting sick of being carried around like an invalid.

 He had two legs so he could very well walk on his own thank you very much.

His gaze unknowingly wandered to Akiteru and Yamaguchi who sat separate from him and were whispering quietly with Matsukawa and Akaashi. He did love his brother and he was happy that they found each other, but he wished that Akiteru didn’t hide everything from him all these years. He understood that it was probably to make sure that he would have a normal life, but Kei couldn’t help but feel more betrayed and alone by his brother’s actions.

And then there was the completely different matter of Yamaguchi. It was expected for Akiteru to hide things from him, but for Yamaguchi to do it to? That was almost out of character for him. And no matter how much Kei wanted to bury it down and deny it, his heart _hurt_. It hurt that Yamaguchi felt the need to hide this whole other world from him and he wasn’t quite sure if he’d be able to get over it quickly.

If there was one thing Tsukishima Kei was good at, it was holding grudges.

“Hey,” A voice whispered beside him, “How are you holding up?”

Kei jumped and had to clench his teeth to prevent an embarrassing sound from escaping him. He turned his head and he found himself looking into the liquid gold eyes of Kuroo Tetsurou. He shifted his eyes to the ground and sighed tiredly,

“Okay I guess; I still have a lot of questions though.”

“Yeah, I figured you would.” Kuroo whispered as he sat next to the blond and closed his eyes pensively, “You probably want to know why Tokai is after you and why your mom died, but I’m not the one who should tell you this.”

Kei nodded his head and hummed,

“I kind of figured, but the person I should talk to about this is someone I don’t really feel like putting the effort into talking to.”

Kuroo scratched at his chin thoughtfully,

“Tsukki, he just thought that he was doing the best for you. He loves you a lot you know; he’d probably do anything to keep you safe…they both were.”

He hunched forward and tried to draw himself into an even tighter ball. His honey brown eyes landed on his brother and Yamaguchi again and he couldn’t help but notice their tight shoulders and wandering eyes despite the fact that they both had reassuring smiles on their faces. Kei felt his hands clenching against his knees in annoyance and frustration.

“It’s so pointless.”

He felt Kuroo stiffen slightly beside him,

“What do you mean Tsukki?”

Kei was silent for a moment gathering his thoughts:

“They have already done more than enough, and I wonder if they’re just tired of it all.”

Silence met his statement, but he knew that Kuroo wasn’t going to let him leave it at that. He could feel the raven’s penetrating and analytical gaze sweeping over him as the silence stretched on. It was in moments like this that Kei couldn’t help but wonder _who_ Kuroo Tetsurou was. Everything about him was conflicted and it was hard to read who the re _al_ Kuroo was.

“I’ve been a burden to the both of them for the majority of our childhood,” Kei muttered, “Akiteru did everything and suffered everything just to make sure that I wouldn’t be hurt. Yamaguchi was a constant presence at my side, my best friend, when everyone else was too intimidated by me to approach me.

“I know that I’m not the greatest to be around. I’m snarky, rude, rough and get some sort of fulfillment out of riling people up. I don’t watch what I say because there’s no point in sugar-coating anything when the world is not a twelve-tiered strawberry shortcake.

“But that also means that I expect the same treatment; I don’t need things to be sugar-coated. This is something that the two of them don’t understand. Being left in the dark and helpless is much more troublesome than being in the line of fire.”

The sound of cicadas reached his ears in the response to his longwinded spiel. It felt as though a small burden had been lifted from his chest upon his admissions. He fiddled with his fingers as the two listened the sounds of nature playing around them. This had to be the most insight he has given anyone about himself and his thought processes.

He couldn’t help but find himself wondering _again_ who Kuroo Tetsurou was and how the bedheaded dumbass had managed to convince him to divulge his deepest thoughts by just sitting there. This could end up being a bit of a problem.

Kuroo laughed half-heartedly; drawing Kei out of his thoughts,

“I’m not going to argue with you on that. I have some experience in that department after all.”

Kei pursed his lips thoughtfully,

“Did the same thing happen in regards to Kenma-san?”

He felt Kuroo jolt from beside him and Kei knew that he had once again over stepped his boundaries.

“Sorry Kuroo-san…”

“No,” The raven haired water manipulator sighed as he pushed his hair out of his eyes, “don’t apologize Tsukki; never apologize for asking a question. It’s just something I cannot answer you right now.”

Kei watched the older male with analytical eyes and noticed that he was starting to close himself off. The familiar smirk starting to tug at the corner of his lips. Kei clicked his tongue silently and found his eyes wandering over to Akaashi, Yamaguchi, Akiteru and a surprisingly quiet Bokuto; even if the black and silver haired man did seem like he was about to vibrate right out of his clothing.

He thought that Kuroo was an overgrown child – the raven had _nothing_ on Bokuto.

Kei adjusted his glasses as he noticed that they slid down his nose and searched for another question to grasp onto,

“So you, Kuroo-san, can manipulate water; Nii-san can somehow replicate things and Yamaguchi can summon things…what can the others do?”

The raven blinked at the sudden change in subject and smiled coyly,

“Why Tsukki, I didn’t know you were so interested in all of us~”

“Tch,” The blond turned away from Kuroo’s smirk, “If you are all meant to ‘protect me’, I should know what to expect so I know what I should I do to avoid death.”

“Ouch!” Kuroo whined petulantly, “That’s hurtful Tsukki, we have more control than that.”

Kei scowled,

“I thought I told you _not_ to call me that, Kuroo-san.”

The raven shrugged his shoulders and stared at Kei down his nose,

“I’ll stop calling you ‘Tsukki’ when you drop the formalities and stop calling me ‘Kuroo-san’. It makes me think you’re talking to my old man.”

Kei straightened his shoulders and smirked in response,

“I didn’t want to mention it Kuroo-san, but you are getting a little up there in years – I think I even see grey hair.”

Kuroo smacked his hand against his chest and leaned against the base of the tree,

“Tsukki, you wound me! I’m only nineteen!”

“You could have fooled me Kuroo-san.” Kei mumbled; his smirk growing, “And you didn’t answer my question.”

“Well,” Kuroo huffed through his nose, “The short version is that Bo controls Fire; which has to be some sort of cosmic joke because it’s almost like giving a child a lit match and telling them to run wild.”

Kei winced at the thought of Bokuto running around with a lit match – the results were somewhat terrifying.

“Then again when it comes to controlling their magic, Bo is one of the best. He’s able to use his flames to protect and to destroy which is definitely an awesome skill. Let’s see, Iwaizumi has immense control of the Earth and Matsukawa over anything that is metal.”

The blond hummed thoughtfully,

“And what about Akaashi-san?”

“Now that’s where things get a little complicated,” Kuroo stated absently, “You see ‘Kaashi, Freckles and your brother don’t _technically_ carry the title of ‘Guardian’ like the rest of us do.”

His eyebrows furrowed in confusion,

“I don’t understand.”

“What Kuroo-san is trying to say is that even though Yamaguchi-kun, Tsukishima-san and myself have the ability to access magic, we are not tied to you specifically like the other guardians are.”

Kei felt Kuroo jump beside him as Akaashi’s presence swept over them. He would be lying if he said his heart was pounding from the brunet’s sudden appearance. Akaashi was truly able to move around like a ghost. Clearly seeing the confusion that was still present on Kei’s face, Akaashi turned towards Kuroo,

“Kuroo-san, why don’t you go over and keep Bokuto-san company while I explain some things to Tsukishima-kun.”

Kuroo pouted at the shorter male playfully,

“But ‘Kaashi, I was talking with Tsukki~ You can’t just come here and sweep him of his feet~”

Sweep him off his _what_ now?

Kei felt his cheeks heat up and he looked away from the two men in order to hide it. Kuroo was absolutely ridiculous; from his bedhead to his provoking demeanor. He scowled petulantly and fiddled with the sleeves of his sweater. He was only pulled out of his thoughts when he felt a warm hand ruffle his blond curls. He hissed like a cat that had been drenched in water and swatted at Kuroo’s hands.

“Kuroo-san.”

The raven cackled, but removed his hand without complaint,

“We’re probably going to start moving soon, so try and relax while you can. Akaashi take over the questions from here, yeah?”

Kei nodded; his annoyance at Kuroo’s actions still evident on his face. The sound of crickets and frogs travelled into his ears, soothing his frantic thoughts with the comforting noise. It helped him know that no matter how drastically his own life changed, the world around him would continue living as it was. The crickets would forever sing for the night and the frogs would forever accompany them in a never-ending symphony.

“Tsukishima-kun,” Akaashi’s stoic voice travelled into his ears, “Is there anything in particular that you would like to ask me about?”

The blond hummed thoughtfully,

“Well I am curious about what you can do Akaashi-san; especially since you seem to be the only one who can control Bokuto-san.”

The brunet pursed his lips; but Kei could tell that he was holding back a small smile,

“You noticed that Tsukishima-kun?”

Kei hummed again and the brunet continued,

“I’ve known Bokuto-san since we were children and I’ve been taking care of him for a long time. He’s not too much of a handful at least; he just needs a little guidance now and again.”

“I see.”

And really he did.

Although Akaashi seemed like a person who kept his cards close to his chest, Kei could see how much he cared for Bokuto. It was in the fondness that rested in his blue eyes as he watched the taller male flit around each of the group members laughing loudly at something or another. In fact, at that moment, the pair watched as Bokuto and Kuroo approached Matsukawa and Iwaizumi who had yet to move from their chosen spot.

“Oya?” Bokuto chirped.

“Oya, Oya?” Kuroo echoed as they approached the segregated pair; his signature provoking smirk on his face.

“Don’t take another step,” Iwaizumi’s eyes snapped open as he glared at them, “I will end you.”

“But Iwa~” Bokuto whined as he leaned into the spiky haired males space, “You’re being so broody and I don’t like it.”

Iwaizumi scowled before pushing Bokuto’s face away,

“It’s none of your concern.”

Matsukawa tutted at the shorter male reprovingly,

“Iwaizumi.”

Something about the way the tall brunet said his name caused Iwaizumi to flinch and he looked away from them and into the trees,

“Whatever.”

Once again Kei could sense the self-loathing and guilt coming off the shorter male in waves. How he was able to even function at this point was surprising to him; it had to be suffocating. But, if there was one thing that he could understand it was pride. He didn’t have to know Iwaizumi intimately to know that pride was a huge factor in his character.

But at the same time, when Matsukawa had spoken up something akin to calmness or acquiescence had spread throughout the Earth mover’s body. The self-loathing and guilt were still there, but it definitely wasn’t as strong.

“Bokuto-san, Kuroo-san,” Akaashi stared at the two instigators in disapproval, “Leave Iwaizumi-san alone.”

“Sorry ‘Kaashi!” Bokuto chirped as he ran off to bother Akiteru and Yamaguchi instead.

“Yeah, sorry.” Kuroo waved in their general direction before following him.

“They’re seriously like children.”

“Yes,” Akaashi agreed without hesitation, “But their impulsivity is almost refreshing at times.”

Kei wasn’t sure if he could agree with Akaashi on that one. His eyes trailed over to Yamaguchi and Akiteru once more; those two could be surprisingly impulsive when they want to be and that was almost the worst kind. When they were impulsive, it wasn’t expected and since it wasn’t expected he didn’t know how to guard against it.

That’s how they got into this situation in the first place.

He closed his eyes and tried to relax when anger, hate and darkness cut through his serene state. His eyes immediately snapped open and he scrambled to his feet moving from the tree he was sitting by; clutching his hoodie and reflexively searching for the force.

“Kei, what’s wrong?” Akiteru was immediately beside him; Akaashi also hovering close by and scanning the area.

“Something’s coming this way,” He whispered; his shoulder brushing against Kei’s as he pushed closer, “Who or whatever it is, is extremely pissed off.”

The blond frowned at Akaashi’s statement; could he sense the aura too?

“Daishou?” Kuroo stated from somewhere to his left.

“No, I don’t think it is,” Kei answered, “It feels different…darker.”

“Could it be Tokai himself?” Iwaizumi asked tensely; cracking his knuckles as his absently slipped of his shoes and buried his toes in the dirt.

Kei couldn’t help but raise his eyebrow at the odd reaction, but he shoved it to the back of his mind. Matsukawa’s thoughtful hum drew his attention to the other male; a dark chill sweeping up his spine as the darkness seemed to get closer and closer.

“Tokai wouldn’t show himself yet, it’s too early in the game.”

“Well whoever it is, they’re coming fast.” Akaashi closed his eyes; the orbs moving quickly beneath his eyelids, “I think they’re coming from the left.”

As the words left his mouth, dozens of creatures exploded from the treeline. They were so black that if it were the middle of the night, Kei and the others would not have been able to see them physically. They stood on two legs like a human, but their arms were so long that they almost touched the ground.

Their fingers had sharp talons growing and the rising moon shone menacingly on them. Their ears were long and pointed like that of a rabbit’s, but their teeth were long and pointed like that of a wolf’s; on their back however, they had large leathery wings. The darkness and anger that Gray sensed rolled off the creatures in sickening waves slowly turning his stomach.

“What are they?” Kei whispered in disgust.

“Grigames,” Yamaguchi muttered as he latched onto Kei’s sleeve habitually, “They’re creatures created by Tokai; they’re mindless and bring destruction everywhere they go.”

“And I’m guessing they’re here for me.” Kei sighed exhaustedly.

“No shit.”

He was about to glare at the Iwaizumi but froze when he saw that his eyes were once again closed. He didn’t have to wait long to figure out what he was doing because within moments he swept his foot in a wide circle in the dirt kicking up minor dirt particles in the process. But those particles were nothing compared to the slabs of rock that came shooting out of the earth like missiles; taking out hordes of grigames as they soared through the air and hit their intended target.

“Not bad Iwa~” Matsukawa commented playfully.

Kei stared wide eyed as Matsukawa’s entire right arm and hand turned into a broadsword. An almost dangerous shine taking over his lazy brown eyes as his thick eyebrows furrowed in fiery determination. Kei felt his mouth drop open in disbelief as he tried to comprehend what he just saw. The brunet noticed his stare and smirked at him confidently,

“So, are we going to get this party started or what?”

xXxXxXxXx

Kei tried to stay as far away from the fight as he could while trying to comprehend what he was seeing around him. He couldn’t stop himself from being awestruck by the abilities that his ‘Guardians’ possessed. Although Kuroo outlined each of their abilities in the most basic of terms, it was in the way that they _used_ their magic that was versatile.

Iwaizumi’s Earth Magic mirrored a type of MMA style of fighting that he saw on television; though he didn’t physically come in contact with the grigames, the earth striking out for him.

Matsukawa’s Metal Magic relied mostly on sword play and hand-to-hand combat combined.

Bokuto’s Fire Magic was 80% hand-to-hand and explosive power, but he dedicated at least 20% of his magic to long range fire attacks.

Kuroo’s Water Magic was flexible and could absorb other attacks while handing out attacks of his own.

Akaashi’s magic which turned out to be a mixture of Telepathy and Telekinesis was powerful in its own right; he was able to read the grigames’ movements and then counteract with either his own Levitation magic or by sending the grigames to one of the other four.

And then there was Akiteru and Yamaguchi who were each holding their own, but it was obvious that their abilities relied heavily on one another. Through observation he was able to see that Akiteru’s magic was something like Duplication or a Mirage while Yamaguchi was able to summon different types of weapons through a portal. Akiteru used his duplication to enhance Yamaguchi’s skills to add more explosive power.

It almost made him wonder how strong Yamaguchi’s magic actually was.

By watching the intricate teamwork between all seven of them, he couldn’t help but feel completely safe. Even though he didn’t completely know them and even though he was a little off-put by some of their personalities; he knew without a doubt that they would be able to win. Not only that, but the grigames were dropping like flies. Their pained cries echoing throughout the descending night air as bits of earth, fire and water raged like an elemental typhoon.

However, if there was one thing that was bothering him about this battle; it was how _useless_ he was.

Under normal circumstances, Tsukishima Kei was not some damsel in distress. He knew how to take care of himself. He stared down at his long, slim fingers and clenched his fists in annoyance. If he just knew how to turn on his freaking magic he would be able to do _something_. He hated having to sit on his ass and do nothing.

At the same moment, he felt maliciousness and arrogance within range of their battle. And judging from the discomfort that momentarily flitted across Akaashi’s face, it was clearly that it was an unknown entity – someone separate from the creatures they were fighting. The blond clicked his tongue and tried to pinpoint the source of the feelings. He knew that the feeling wasn’t coming from the fighting Guardians, but FOR them and he couldn’t do anything to stop it.

The lack of control over the situation really pissed him off.

Kei narrowed his eyes and tried to search for any sign of the intruder in the darkening night. As his eyes shifted to the others, a burning sensation coursed through his left eye. He automatically placed his hand over his eye and tried to massage the pain out of it; that’s when he saw him. Daishou was hiding in the treeline, unnoticed by the others, and was preparing to attack them.

The coward.

The blond huffed in annoyance and adrenaline started to course through his veins like a raging river. He could faintly feel the light within him churning angrily in response to his feelings and the need to be useful. Kei started to duck through the underbrush and trees towards Daishou. Instinctually he knew he wouldn’t be able to defeat him on his own, but he would be able to distract him.

As if answering to his thoughts, a warm gold aura started circulating around the palms of his hands. He clenched his fists in front of his eyes in experimentation and almost smiled when they thrummed with energy. He didn’t know how this would work, but he had to trust what his gut was telling him; even if he’d rather have all the variables in front of him.

He closed his eyes and gathered the energy that was within him; he could feel the light crackling around him enthusiastically, telling him to keep going. His eyes snapped open and he narrowed his sights on Daishou who was also gathering his own magic in the palms of his hands. The man’s dark eyes were set on the turned back of the bedheaded Water Guardian.

Kei scoffed to himself; Kuroo was so going to owe him for this.

The blond gathered all his wits and threw his arms forward; elbows locked and determination coursing through his veins. The shelter of trees was immediately bathed in a shower of golden light. The fighting stopped instantaneously as they watched the light fall on them in confusion.

As the light started to fall on their skin like fresh snow, the Grigames hissed in excruciating pain and black misty smoke started to rise off their skin; they were disintegrating. Kei shifted his gaze from the dying Grigames and back to the treeline. His eyes immediately met those of Daishou who was glaring at him with nothing less than the look of death; his green magic stopped dead in its tracks before disintegrating as well.

Daishou tried to walk into the light, but he too hissed in pain as a red burn appeared on his hand. His glare only intensified when a cloak of darkness wrapped around him and evaporated; his anger and malice along with him. The blond sighed tiredly as the golden magic disappeared into the air and settled back into his veins.

“Kei?” Akiteru called out, “Was that you?”

The blond rolled his eyes as he stepped into view; exhaustion pulling on the corner of his eyes,

“Of course Nii-san, who else could it have been.”

“Hey, Hey, Hey Tsukki!~” Bokuto cheered as he started running towards him, “That was AWESOME!~ You should teach me how to do that!”

Kei attempted to smirk to hid the redness that started to spread across his cheeks,

“It wasn’t much Boku…”

Dizziness swept over him before he could get the sentence out. He was faintly aware of his legs giving out from under him for the millionth time that day. He thought he heard multiple voices calling out his name, but he couldn’t figure out whose voice was whose. The next thing he registered was his face squishing against something firm; dislodging his glasses in the process.

“Tsukki!” A loud voice shouted in his ear, “Are you alright?!”

By this point Kei couldn’t feel anything, much less his face, but he was sure that he was scowling because quite honestly, he was getting really sick and tired of this passing out and being caught thing.

“How pathetic…” He slurred.

The last thing he felt before he welcomed the darkness was the comforting combination of both flame and chill.

TBC


	5. Brothers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two Brothers have a Heart to Heart on a train... Or at least they try to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's chapter 5! :D
> 
> A lot of information is about to be dumped on you ~ with a side of emotional constipation and overprotectiveness LOL  
> I apologize once again for all OOC-ness in this chapter, especially in regards to Akiteru and Kei's relationship!
> 
> I hope you enjoy the chapter regardless! And thank you everyone for the support!
> 
> -sktrgrl

A bright light shone against Kei’s eyelids causing his eyes to scrunch together in discomfort. His muscles felt sore and his entire body was screaming at him to go back to sleep and get much needed rest. The soft movement that seemed to gently rock his body could’ve easily sent him back into the darkness if it weren’t for the hand resting against his forehead; chills travelled down his spine and goosebumps started to dance across his pale skin. Slowly, he opened his lead-like eyelids and was of course greeted by the sun shining into his eyes.

He tried turning his head to take in his surroundings when hands brushed his cheeks. Kei carefully pushed himself into a sitting position so that he was now looking his older brother in the eye. Akiteru seemed exhausted beyond belief; he wouldn’t be surprised if he hadn’t slept.

The blond peeled his gaze off Akiteru and searched his surroundings like he intended; adjusting his glasses when he realized that they were a little crooked. Unsurprisingly, he noticed that he was no longer in the forest, but was now sitting on a train. He watched the telephone wires and trees pass by through the window in an effort to pinpoint where they were and where they were headed. As he glanced around, he noticed the other guardians sleeping in various positions around him.

Yamaguchi was sitting on the other side of Akiteru with his head leaning awkwardly on his own shoulder. His chest rising and falling rhythmically as he continued to remain dead to the world. Matsukawa was leaning against the window on the other seat, with Iwaizumi leaning into his side sleeping peacefully. Funny, Kei didn’t think the short male had the ability to look peaceful considering the tension and anger that Iwaizumi seemed to carry around.

Bokuto was beside the two males sitting with his eyes closed and his arms thrown haphazardly against his neighbour’s limbs; how he managed to even fall asleep and continue to do so without bothering Iwaizumi was beyond him. Kei had to prevent a smirk from spreading across his lips when he heard Bokuto’s random snorts and snores echoing throughout the train car.

Akaashi was beside Bokuto also seemingly sleeping with his head pillowed on the broader male’s shoulder. Despite the calm relaxation that emanated from Akaashi’s slumbering form, he had a feeling that if someone were to approach them with ill-intent, the brunet would probably have them incapacitated without even opening his eyes.

Kei moved his gaze to the figure beside him; who he didn’t notice until now – clearly he was slipping. The bedheaded raven was lying against the window with his face smooshed flat against the glass. Kei’s eyes widened at the odd position and found himself wondering how Kuroo was even _breathing_ with his body angled in such a manner.

“Is he alright?” Kei muttered to himself in disbelief, “That can’t be healthy.”

“That’s Kuroo for you,” Akiteru suddenly laughed quietly from beside him, “He’s actually worse when he’s in a bed.”

Kei jumped slightly from his brother’s laugh and felt his cheeks turn red. He did not think that he had said that loud enough for Akiteru to hear him. Suddenly he frowned as he registered what his older brother had said. He adjusted his glasses again to give his blush time to disappear completely before looking at his brother once more.

“How would you know that nii-san?”

Akiteru’s teasing smile shrank,

“What do you mean Kei?”

The younger blond rolled his eyes and glanced out the window; watching as the trees went by,

“Why are you so familiar with Kuroo-san’s sleeping habits?”

The elder brother flinched slightly from the implied accusation and Kei clicked his tongue derisively against the roof of his mouth. He frowned at Akiteru’s prolonged silence, but waited for the older blond to come up with an excuse.

Akiteru was good at making up excuses.

“As Kuroo said, we met a couple years back on an assignment,” Akiteru began, “We had to share a hotel room and the morning after our arrival, I woke up to Kuroo lying on his stomach with his face smooshed firmly between two pillows. I thought he was going to smother himself.”

Kei tugged on his fingers pensively and pursed his lips,

“An assignment for what?”

Akiteru sighed from beside him and ran a hand through his hair; averting his gaze,

“I can’t tell you right now; please Kei, you have to understand.”

The younger blond scowled in frustration and ground out between clenched teeth,

“Oh, I understand _perfectly_ nii-san.”

A tense silence engulfed the train car; the only sounds being Bokuto’s snoring as it continued to echo around them.

“What about you?” Akiteru inquired softly.

“What about me?” Kei muttered monotonously.

Undeterred by the younger blond’s souring mood, Akiteru pushed forward:

“Are you alright?”

Kei shrugged his shoulders half-heartedly,

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

The older blond nodded his head even if Kei would tell that he wasn’t too satisfied with the answer,

“That’s to be expected; what caused you to do something so reckless anyway?”

The younger Tsukishima felt his scowl and annoyance returned full-force. His brother had no right taking that patronizing tone with him. Kei clenched his fists in his lap and forced himself to take deep breaths through his nose.

“Daishou was standing in the bushes preparing to attack you. I was going to hold him off until someone of more adequate skill could handle it.”

Kei noticed the look of utter defeat that plagued his older brother’s features and even if he was mad at him, he didn’t like that look on his face. That expression just didn’t suit Akiteru and it never would. He had witnessed that expression countless times throughout his childhood when Akiteru felt that he had failed in some way – when they were in _that_ house, it was a common expression.

Kei sighed silently,

“What’s wrong?”

Akiteru bit the corner of his lip before speaking,

“I’m so sorry Kei; I should’ve sought you out much earlier than this.”

“Yeah, you should have.” He responded bluntly.

The mirage mage blinked at him owlishly in surprise, but his eyes quickly dropped to his feet again. Kei waited patiently for his brother’s next move; it was up to Akiteru if he wanted this talk to continue. No matter how much Kei wanted to have answers, no matter how much he deserved to have answers, he knew that pressuring Akiteru wasn’t the way to go about it.

However, it wasn’t beneath him to use underhanded tactics such as disdain, disappointment and sarcasm to his advantage.

Absently, he slid his fingers underneath his lenses and ran his hand over his left eye; he found he was doing this more often, not because it hurt, but because it felt like it was trying to tell him something. He just couldn’t figure out what that was.

When he felt Akiteru’s eyes on him again, he let his hand drop and let himself get swallowed by the mocha brown gaze in front of him. He could feel his brother’s conflicted and worried emotions as if they were his own.

“Nii-san?” Kei raised an inquiring eyebrow.

“I just,” Akiteru sighed in frustration and clenched his fists over his knees, “I don’t know where to begin.”

The younger blond frowned,

“Would it be easier if you just _showed_ me?”

The older blinked at him a couple times before a frown appeared on his face,

“No.”

“It was just a suggestion,” Kei rolled his eyes, “My magic is supposedly able to allow me to do so and I thought that it would be better for me to see it for myself, that’s all.”

“It probably would be better,” Akiteru agreed readily, “But you just woke up from overusing that damn power; you’re too tired to use it right now.”

Kei stared resolutely ahead of himself and crossed his arms over his chest in annoyance. He knew that he was probably acting like a spoiled brat, but damnit, this was getting ridiculous. Well, if he was honest things have probably reached past ridiculous and they were probably now in the realm of insanity.

“Nii-san, you can’t run from this forever.” Kei stated matter-of-factly, “I need to know who I am and what is going on.”

“No Kei,” Akiteru frowned resolutely, “You don’t have to resort to using your magic all the time; I refuse to let it hurt you.”

The younger Tsukishima’s eyes narrowed dangerously,

“Right now you’re the only one who is hurting me nii-san.”

Kei didn’t raise his voice, but it would almost have been better if he had. Akiteru looked as though he had been struck with at least thirty lashings before salt was rubbed into his wounds. The blond sighed in exasperation and tugged on his fingers,

“Look, it’s like when you were teaching me to play volleyball when we were younger. You told me that if you don’t practice at it, then chances are you won’t improve and you’ll become a liability to your team.”

He was aware of Akiteru’s surprised gaze as he pushed forward,

“I never believed in that philosophy; I always thought ‘what was the point in trying so hard if there was always going to be someone better than you who can and _will_ defeat you’. I still believe in that reality even now when everything I thought I knew turned out to be a fabrication.”

“Kei,” Akiteru choked out.

“That being said nii-san,” The younger blond spoke over him before rising to his feet and heading towards the train car door, “I refuse to be the liability for this team, even if I didn’t have a say about whether or not I would join.”

“Wait, Kei!”

Kei ignored his brother’s call and slid the glass door shut behind him. He closed his eyes for a brief moment before he continued down the hallway. Maybe he’ll take this time to figure out where this train is going while he gathered his thoughts and emotions.

He said some really sappy things back there.

xXxXxXx

“He does have a point you know.”

Akiteru’s gaze snapped from the door to see a groggy Yamaguchi sitting up in his seat and trying to rub the sleep out of his eyes.

“He has to learn how to control it or there is no way that we’re going to be able to defeat Tokai, Aki-nii.”

The older male found himself sighing again and he placed his head in his hands. He knew in his heart of hearts that both Yamaguchi and his brother were right. But there was still that small part of him that wanted to keep his little brother safe. The side of him that remembered the smiley four year old boy who was obsessed with dinosaurs and strawberry shortcake; he remembered the boy who believed in him with his heart and soul.

“Tadashi,” He muttered under his breath, “I know you’re right, you both are, but...”

“Aki-nii, he won’t think any different of you if you show him – he’ll still see you as his nii-san; that’s not going to change.”

Akiteru laughed self-deprecatingly as the brown haired teenager hit the nail on the head,

“I’m not even sure if he sees me as his nii-san now; I haven’t really acted like one over the past nine years.”

 “Tsukki loves you Akiteru,” Yamaguchi stated bluntly, “He doesn’t know how to show it and he might not like to admit it, but he _missed you_ while he’s been away from you and it killed me knowing exactly where you were and not be able to tell him.

“Yes, he’s hurt and yes, he might need time to completely forgive you, but in the end he _will_. But in return, you have to trust him. You have to let him make his own decisions and tell him everything that he needs to know when he asks for it.”

Yamaguchi stared at him with something like fire in his hazel eyes. When Yamaguchi was a child, such a look would never have existed. He was a scrawny child who was often picked on for his looks and it took a lot for him to stand up for himself. But here he was looking at him with such anger and pride for his best friend.

It truly was an amazing sight.

He believed that Kei had the potential to be strong. He also believed with his entire being that once Kei had full control of his magic, he would be able to use it to its complete capacity in any way that he saw fit. He knew that in time Kei would be strong enough to defeat Tokai and free both the magic and non-magic worlds from his presence.

However, there were other things to consider.

Fate was a fickle being and even if something was prophesized a particular way, the fact that someone looked upon the future and shared what that future entailed affected the course in which that prophecy will be fulfilled. His brother could very well lose himself in this battle – he could lose his life – and that is just something that he did not want to consider.

He may be a mage.

He may be a soldier against Tokai.

But he was first and foremost an older brother.

“I do know that Tadashi; I’m very aware of that,” Akiteru acquiesced, “Telling him the truth could keep the Darkness from consuming him, but what if it makes things worse.”

Yamaguchi opened his mouth, something ready to fly off his tongue only for whatever it was to die. Yamaguchi clenched his fists in his lap and bunched his fingers into his pant legs. Noticing that Yamaguchi wasn’t going to say anything, Akiteru continued on.

“What if he finds out the truth and then shuts down? As prideful as my younger brother can be, he shuts down in the face of threats. Sure he hides behind his snide remarks and haughty words, but that only works for so long.”

Akiteru frowned at his own lap,

“I will not lose him to this Tadashi; I will not lose Kei to _him_.”

Terse silence reached his ears. He was almost sure that he had woken up the others in the train car because even Bokuto’s snores disappeared. He was about to apologize to everyone for waking them up when the dark and silver haired boy’s snores started up once again.

 “That’s why we’re here Akiteru,” Yamaguchi announced to the silence, “We’re all his Guardians, officially or not. We’ll keep him safe no matter what; even when he does learn the truth, he’ll have all of us by his side. We’ll keep him strong.”

The two of them sat in silence as the tension in the air started to dissipate around them. Soon enough, their emotions calmed down and they had both relaxed. Both of their heads shot to the door as Kei returned to the train car and took his seat between the still slumbering raven and his brother.

Yamaguchi moved to the edge of his seat and started talking to Kei. Asking him how he was doing, if he was feeling better and all that surface stuff. By watching the younger Tsukishima out of the corner of his eye, he could see that his defenses were still up. Akiteru frowned slightly at that because Kei _never_ had his guard up around Yamaguchi, but he had a feeling it had something to do with the fact Yamaguchi knew about everything, but didn’t tell him any of it.

That little blip in their relationship would be fixed once they had some downtime; he was sure of it. The childhood friends just needed some time alone in order to talk things out. Once they arrived to the safe house, they’ll hopefully have time to do so.

Akiteru watched his younger brother closely and sighed in defeat. Yamaguchi was right, as he always was when it came to Kei. His brother had grown before his eyes and he didn’t even notice it. Kei was stronger in ways that he was not when he was younger and he just had to hope that the stubborn blond would accept their help when the time comes.

“Kei,” He whispered; drawing him out of his somewhat one-sided conversation with Yamaguchi, “Before I show you anything, you have to promise me something.”

The blond raised an eyebrow at the sudden subject change before nodding slightly. Akiteru took a deep calming breath before speaking again,

“Promise me that you won’t shut us out. Not all of it is pleasant and it’s going to be vague in some areas, since Mom was the only one who knew what actually happened.”

Kei frowned in confusion,

“Nii-san, why…”

“You’re going to see me talking to one of Mom’s closest friends,” Akiteru pushed forward not giving him a chance to ask his question, “She was the only one to know about Mom’s past with Tokai and everything that happened afterwards.”

Kei blinked at him in silence for a moment; thoughts no doubt whirring through his head at lightning speed. Kei instinctually looked over at Yamaguchi who smiled at him reassuringly and offered a thumbs up to show his support.

“Alright nii-san,” He nodded slowly, “I promise.”

Hesitantly, Akiteru reached out and grabbed Kei’s hand in his; he squeezed it reassuringly. Almost as if he were watching his brother drift off to sleep, Kei's eyes started to glaze over and his left eye started to glow faintly. The taller blond’s body slumped forward so that his head was lying on his brother’s shoulder. Akiteru ran his hand through his brother’s curly hair as he thought about whether or not he made the right decision.

xXxXxXx

_The room he was standing in was dim; the only source of light was the torches that hung from the concrete walls. The flames flickered flared as if they had a secret that they wanted to divulge; they begged him to come closer so they could consume him and show him the truths that hide in the darkness._

_Two figures sat at a rickety wooden table in the center of the room on a rotting rug. One of them was fairly young; maybe fourteen or fifteen with dark blond hair and alabaster skin. A school jacket hugged his upper body in an attempt to keep the chill of the room off his body. Sitting across from him was a woman who time seemed to ignore; there was a type of agelessness about her._

_She was very beautiful._

_Her hair was a dark black that could rival the night sky and her blue eyes were the colour of the sea; though they were mostly hidden by a pair of fine rimmed glasses. Her skin was paler than the boy’s despite the geographical area they were in and she had a beauty mark just below her lip._

_Her slender hands held a tea pot and she graciously poured tea for both the boy and herself. The boy murmured a thank you before bringing the steamy cup to his lips; he set it back on the table gently and waited patiently for the woman to start talking. The woman also placed her own cup down and stared intently into the boy’s mocha brown eyes._

_“So, you’re Tsukishima Hikari’s son,” She smiled sadly, “It’s nice to finally meet you; I only wish that it was under better circumstances.”_

_“I do as well,” The teen whispered politely, “I assume you know why I am here?”_

_The woman nodded,_

_“Hikari-chan said that you would come to me someday to inquire about the birth of your younger brother and the power that he possesses. I know that you are aware of his gift and you know what it entails, but you wish to know where it comes from.”_

_The teen nodded his confirmation and waited patiently for the woman to continue._

_“Now,” She began, “The first thing you should know is that your mother’s death was meant to happen; there was nothing you could do to prevent it… it was inevitable.”_

_The boy flinched at the blunt statement and his fingers tightened around the cup._

_“She knew she was going to die, she just didn’t know when it would occur. She hoped that you and your brother would be older when it happened, but clearly that wasn’t the case.”_

_The boy swallowed thickly and tried to stop the tears from falling. He picked up his tea and buried his face in the steam while pretending to talk another drink. The woman watched the boy sadly and allowed him to collect himself before continuing._

_“When your mother became pregnant with your younger brother, it wasn’t of her own volition.”_

_The boy froze,_

_“You mean…”_

_The black haired woman nodded solemnly,_

_“Yes, it is exactly as you fear. The father of your brother forced himself on her because he was told by an oracle that if he mated with her then she would bear a child of astounding power; a power that could either save or destroy the world.”_

_The boy clenched his hands against the ceramic of the cup so hard that he was pretty sure it was going to break. Once again, the woman waited for the boy to compose himself before she moved forward._

_“Now, you must understand that prophecy is a fickle thing and is only half truths. Yes, she did conceive and bear a child with immense power, but his power will save the world, not destroy it.”_

_“If, if Kei is going to save the world,” The boy furrowed his eyebrows, “Then He failed, didn’t he?”_

_“In a way, I guess He did,” The woman said thoughtfully, “But, your mother told me something very important a few weeks before she was killed. The man who took advantage of her was the ruling demon of the Underworld, while she herself was the daughter of a White Priestess here in the upper world.”_

_The boy hummed in confusion,_

_“I can see how that could help us understand a few more things, but I don’t understand why it’s so important that she felt the need to share it with you.”_

_When the woman didn’t respond right away, the boy turned red and began to stutter._

_“I-I’m sorry that sound accusing; I didn’t mean anything by it.”_

_The woman tucked a strand of her dark hair behind her ear,_

_“There is no need to apologize, you are after all quite right. However, the problem lies in the fact that it is impossible for two powers such as that to reside in one being; therefore something else had to occur… do you know what that is?”_

_The boy became silent for a moment before his eyes widened in comprehension,_

_“Twins; are you saying that my mother had twins?_

_The woman smiled and nodded,_

_“Exactly, your mother was pregnant with twins; however, the twin housing the darker power killed by their own magic immediately after being born. It wasn’t strong enough to house the darker powers given by the father; only the Light survived and that was your brother.”_

_The boy looked thoughtful for a moment before he seemed to reach a conclusion and something like an epiphany spread across his face._

_“Your mother was worried that your brother’s father would discover the truth about the twins’ birth and kill your brother; that is why you three were constantly on the move. She was able to shield you and your brother for a long time, but for a reason that is unknown, your brother’s powers fluctuated and caught the attention of his father.”_

_The blond teen closed his eyes,_

_“When I was ten and my brother was three going on four, we were playing outside when a child collapsed at the park we were playing in. I didn’t know the child personally, but my brother did; apparently the child was a boy in my brother’s kindergarten class._

_He was the only one who tried to be Kei’s friend and when he saw him collapse he freaked out. He ran to him to see if he was alright and then I saw this strange golden light emitting from him. When the light disappeared, the little boy was awake, but Kei had passed out.”_

_The woman tapped her chin,_

_“Did your mother know about this?”_

_The boy shook his head,_

_“No, when Kei woke up, he couldn’t remember what happened; so I just assumed that I didn’t see anything. A few months after that, Tokai came and killed her. That’s when I knew that what I witnessed that day in the park was not a figment of my imagination; I blamed myself ever since.”_

_The woman reached out her hand and placed it over his and rubbed it comfortingly,_

_“You were ten years old; you didn’t fully understand the degree of his abilities, you only knew that he was special and needed to be protected._

_“Your mother had faith that you would be able to keep him safe even if she is gone, and I do as well. You will meet up with him again one day and you’ll have to tell him this story or he’ll never truly understand.”_

_“I don’t know if I’ll be strong enough to tell him…”_

_“You will be,” She assured him, “Someone will help you see what you need to do.”_

_The boy shifted his gaze, but was his attention was drawn again when she patted his hand,_

_“You haven’t met them yet, but there are people like you who have been affected by your brother’s father. No matter how much he tries to fight it, Tokai will not be able to break the bonds of fate. Like you, they will be there to keep your brother safe and in return your brother will save the world.”_

_“Thank you.” He whispered gratefully before pushing himself to his feet and heading to the door._

_“Before you leave,” She stopped him, “I need to tell you one thing.”_

_“Yeah?”_

_“All great powers don’t come without a price; one day your brother will have to make a choice and you and your companions will have to fight in his stead.”_

_The boy’s body froze,_

_“What do you mean?”_

_“I can’t answer that.” She broke eye contact for the first time during their meeting, “Just look to yourself for the answer.”_

_The teen turned from the woman and left the room; indecision and fear of the unknown latching onto him as he walked out…_

The memory disintegrating into the darkness with each step that the blond took.

TBC


	6. Questions and Revelations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kei wakes up to find that his surroundings have changed once more...  
> Some Questions are asked...  
> Some Revelations are made...  
> And he decides that he might just be okay...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's Chapter 6 Minna~
> 
> Thank you for all the continued support for this story! There's some OT4 Development (maybe?) in this chapter and other things are hinted. I am so sorry if there are any inconsistencies with character or plot line! This chapter kind of got away from me a little LOL but I hope that you will all still enjoy it to some extent!!
> 
> -sktrgrl

Kei slowly opened his eyes and was greeted with a pounding headache and a searing pain in his eye for what had to be the billionth time in the last two days. Akiteru was no longer beside him and he realized that he was once again in a completely different place as he could no longer feel the rumble of the train car beneath him. He blinked his eyes exhaustedly and was about to feel around for his glasses when the familiar frames were set firmly in his searching hands.

“How are you feeling?”

He slid his glasses onto his face and turned to see Kuroo was sitting on the floor next to the couch he was currently residing on. Despite the fact that he had slept on the train, Kei noticed the exhausted tinge to his golden eyes and the tight frown that was on his face. It was almost as if Kuroo was _worried_.

But that couldn’t have been the case. They had only just met each other after all.

Kei ignored his question for the time being as he quickly took in his surroundings; not at all bothered by the silence. Judging by the mostly wooden walls and the wood fireplace in the far corner of the room, the blond was willing to bet that they were in some sort of cabin. His reasoning was only affirmed when he noticed that he was still able to smell the distinct scent of the outdoors despite the fact that he technically inside a building.

It was clear that the cabin itself wasn’t in complete disrepair. In fact, if Kei had to guess, it was actually used quite often. There wasn’t a lot of dust on the couch he was on, nor on the nearby coffee table and surrounding decorations. The wood that was next to the fireplace looked well stocked and relatively healthy.

The house itself also smelt like pine-scented pledge along with the outdoorsy aroma so that meant that it had recently been cleaned as well. What was odd, however, was that Kuroo and himself seemed to be the only ones in the immediate vicinity and for some strange reason it bothered him more than he would have liked.

“I’m fine.” Kei finally responded, “Just wondering where we are and where everyone is.”

“We’re in a cabin on the fringe of the forest just outside Sendai,” Kuroo hummed as he ruffled his messy hair distractedly.

“Ah,” The blond swallowed thickly, “I see.”

If Kuroo had noticed his uneasiness at the mention of how close they were to Sendai, he didn’t acknowledge it; Kei frowned as he fiddled with his fingers absently. He knew that he would have to return to Sendai someday, but he didn’t think that it would be this soon. Even though it had been over nine years since _it_ happened, he could still feel the bruises and the cuts as though it had happened yesterday.

It looks like it’s just another thing he’ll have to put up with.

Anyways, it’s not like he’ll run into _them_ or anything; he’s not even actually in Sendai after all. The chances that they would even end up out here were slim to none. He was pulled out of his thoughts when he felt something soft against his forearm. He tried to hide his jolt as he looked down and saw that it was just Kuroo lying his head down on the couch cushion; his unruly raven hair now rubbing against his arm.

Kei let out the breath that he didn’t even know he was holding and relaxed slightly as Kuroo’s smooth baritone continued to distract him from his revelation.

“As for the others: Bo and ‘Kaashi are just outside getting some air while Akiteru, Freckles and the others went to set up some wards to protect the cabin from any unwanted visitors.”

Kei nodded in acknowledgement before voicing his next question,

“How long was I out?”

Kuroo closed his eyes thoughtfully and released yet another hum,

“A couple hours or so at the most.”

Kei sighed and looked at the bedhead that remained close to his own hands that resided in his lap. For a reason completely unknown to him, he felt a sudden need to run his fingers through the thick raven locks. He felt his cheeks turning red at the thought and hoped that the Water Guardian would keep his damn eyes shut so that he wouldn’t see it.

He blamed his apparent need to pet Kuroo on the fact that he truly looked like a slumbering cat at the current moment.

He was pulled out of his thoughts when the sound of a door opening reached his ears. This time he couldn’t stop his jump as he tried to find the doorway to see who had walked in. He hadn’t even realized that his anxiety started to climb until a warm hand wrapped around one of his own and a sense of calm washed over him. He looked over to Kuroo once more and found himself drowning in a pair of golden eyes that seemed to be boring into his soul.

“Tsukishima-kun, I am relieved to see that you are awake; you must be hungry, would you like something to eat?”

At the sound of the new voice, Kei was able to pull his gaze from Kuroo and focused on willing the blush that was working its way across his cheekbones to go back to where it came from. God, sometimes he hated the fact that he was so pale. He pulled his hand out of Kuroo’s and let his mind wander to the new presence in the room.

In his opinion, Akaashi didn’t sound as relieved as he said he was. In fact, he had the exact same monotone as he usually had. But he found himself second guessing his initial observation as Akaashi got closer to the couch. Despite the fact that his face was as blank as always, Kei could sense a deep worry receding and something warm and comforting taking its place. Akaashi’s shoulders even seemed to relax as he drew closer to the couch before sitting almost gracefully next to Kei’s feet.

“I am alright for now Akaashi-san, thank you for asking.”

The curly haired brunet nodded his head, but wasn’t able to say anything in response since Kuroo’s voice overrode him,

“What?!”

Kei leaned away from Kuroo at his loud exclamation and narrowed his eyes at the bedheaded raven wearily,

“What’s wrong Kuroo-san?”

“How are you not _starving_ Tsukki?!” The raven stated exasperatedly, “You haven’t eaten in like three days!”

The blond frowned in confusion,

“Is that all you’re concerned about?”

“Well yeah?” Kuroo blinked at him as though he were missing something important, “Eating is an important part of surviving Tsukki.”

Kei shrugged his shoulders,

“I just don’t have a big appetite is all, Kuroo-san; it’s not like it’ll kill me if I don’t eat every single minute.”

Kuroo gave Kei the most unimpressed look that the blond had ever seen in his life. The raven’s eyebrows were slanted downwards and an almost impossible frown donned his tanned face. His lips were pursed as if he had just eaten a lemon and his golden eyes just seemed to scream disappointment. In just the short time he has known Kuroo, Kei didn’t even think the raven was capable of making a face that wasn’t some sort of condescending smirk or smile.

“Now that’s just unacceptable,” Kuroo shot to his feet and put his hands on his hips, “No wonder you’re so scrawny Tsukki; you’re not eating properly~”

Kei felt his eyebrow twitch in annoyance,

“I’m perfectly fit Kuroo-san; I am in no way _scrawny_.”

“You won’t be once I start feeding you on a daily basis~” Kuroo stated adamantly, “I’m going to see if Take-san has the ingredients for Grilled Salted Mackerel Pike.”

If anything Kei’s scowl deepened even further and he moved to get to his feet to prevent Kuroo from cooking for him only for another hand to fall on his shoulder to prevent him from moving. He turned his head to see Akaashi shaking his head at him,

“Just let it go Tsukishima-kun, once Kuroo-san has his mind set on something nothing can sway him from changing his mind.”

“I’m glad you see it my way ‘Kaashi~” The raven sang from the attached kitchenette where he started to rummage through the different cabinets, “It’s nice having you on my side for once.”

“I’m not on your side Kuroo-san,” Akaashi deadpanned, “I just know it’s futile to argue with people like you.”

Kuroo stopped rummaging through the cabinets and stared at Akaashi blandly,

“That sounded like an insult of some kind.”

Akaashi smirked almost teasingly,

“Take it as you will Kuroo-san.”

Kei glanced between the two men and frowned; it definitely felt like he was missing something. He didn’t have a chance to think about it long, however, since only a split second passed before Kuroo began rummaging through the cabinets once more; placing what he needed on the counter as he found them.

“Akaashi-san,” Kei asked the brunet prompting him to hum in response, “Where is Bokuto-san? Kuroo-san said that he was with you.”

“Bokuto-san is outside training,” Akaashi rolled his shoulders and pressed his fingertips together, “He has a lot of excess energy from sleeping so long on the train, so I thought it best that he worked it off out there for a bit lest he accidentally set the cabin on fire.”

Kei nodded his head in understanding before letting silence descend between the two of them once more; the only sound being the sizzling of a pan as Kuroo continued to flit around the kitchen. If there was one thing that he noticed in the last couple of days, he was relatively comfortable around Kuroo and Akaashi. Not only was he able to talk with them at ease, he could also say nothing at all if he so choose.

Before now, he had only ever felt that he could relax in prolonged silences with Yamaguchi.

Then again, Yamaguchi talked enough for the both of them.

Kei felt the corner of his mouth drop as he thought of his best friend. He really needed to have a talk with his freckled friend about everything at some point. For the first time in his life, Kei felt the need to be _careful_ around Yamaguchi. It was as if all the trust that they had accumulated over the years had gone up in a puff of smoke. This revelation added an unsettling weight upon Kei’s chest and made him wonder if he would ever trust Yamaguchi again. Kei huffed through his nose and fought against the urge to bury his face in his hands.

He was being so _lame_.

He knew that Yamaguchi was the friend that held him up when he felt like he wanted to give in. He knew that Yamaguchi had really good intentions and ideas about how to approach tough matters, even if Kei was too stubborn and prideful most of the time to follow the freckled teen’s advice. Deep down he knew that Yamaguchi would never hurt him.

But, despite knowing this, he still _hurt_.

Kei scoffed to himself; when had he become so weak?

“Tsukishima-kun?”

Kei pulled himself out of his thoughts with a shake of his head and glanced beside him to see Akaashi was watching him closely. His blue eyes almost _knowing_ as they flitted over Kei’s tense frame. The blond felt the need to smack himself as he remembered that Akaashi probably did know what Kei was just thinking about.

As a Telepath, Kei wouldn’t be able to hide anything from Akaashi as long as they remain associated with each other.

This could get annoying quickly.

He noticed Akaashi’s smirk from the corner of his eye and resisted the urge to sigh loudly in exasperation.

It was already annoying.

“I am fine Akaashi-san,” Kei replied tonelessly, “I’m taking the time that we have to sort through everything that has happened.”

“That makes sense,” Kuroo voiced his opinion from the kitchen as he flipped something in the frying pan on the stove; whatever it was sizzling as it moved, “You’ve had a lot thrown at you the last couple of days.”

Kei’s mind wandered to what he had learned from the memory he received from Akiteru. He clenched his fists in his lap once more,

“That would be an understatement, Kuroo-san.”

“Would you like to talk about what you saw?” Akaashi inquired, “I’d understand if you want to talk with your brother as this matter pertains mostly to your family, but perhaps voicing any questions you have would be helpful.”

“Perhaps,” Kei acquiesced with a sigh, “But there is still so much I do not understand.”

“That is true,” Akaashi acknowledged, “Is there anything of importance that you would like to address now?”

“Yes actually, about this World.” Kei scrunched his nose thoughtfully, “How does it work? Who runs it? How has it existed for so long and no one has noticed? It’s all so…strange.”

“Strange?” Kuroo cackled derisively, “That’s definitely a way of putting it.”

“Kuroo-san.”

The raven haired male shrank back slightly at Akaashi’s warning tone, but continued cooking over the stove. Kei frowned at his statement; it was clear that the Water Guardian held a distaste for the Magic world. Unwillingly, the blond felt his mind drifting to the memory he had gotten from Kuroo about that feline-like boy.

Kenma.

There was no doubt in his mind that the majority of Kuroo’s frustration probably stemmed from whatever had happened to Kenma that day in the clearing. That being said, it wasn’t in his place to ask about it so for the moment he’d just keep his thoughts to himself.

“Now Tsukishima-kun,” Akaashi began as though he was starting a class lecture, “The Magic World is very similar to the world that you grew up in. There is a government, there is a justice system, there are families, there are workers, there are homeless people, there are people who are innocent and there are people who are criminals. We all live the best as we can with the abilities that we have without drawing too much attention to ourselves as the government expects of us.”

Kei hummed to show that he was still following what Akaashi was telling him and straightened his body posture to show that he was interested.

“That being said, while the government is in charge of making sure that laws are passed and followed there are six main Pillars that are associated with the government, each with their own affiliations with smaller groups, but mostly work separately. Their duty is to regulate the use of magic in the Non-Magic World and to diffuse any illegal and dangerous use of magic that occur throughout the designated regions by taking specialized jobs and missions.

“The Pillars are strategically placed and are obligated to interfere in any magic related business as long as they defer to the government if the need calls for it. There are two Pillars in the Miyagi area, one Pillar in the Sendai area, and then two in the Tokyo area.”

Kei quickly did the math in his head and frowned,

“Sorry for interrupting you Akaashi-san, but you said there were six Pillars; you only named five…or am I incorrect?”

“No Tsukishima-kun, you are correct,” The brunet averted his gaze and absently started to press the tips of his fingers again, “But one of the Pillars collapsed and has been corrupted by the powers of Tokai.”

Kei felt a nervous sweat break out on the back of his neck at the mention of the name,

“You mean my father.”

Silence and tension immediately descended upon the room; even the sound of Kuroo cooking seemed to stop. Kei bunched his hands into tight fists as his heart thundered in his ears. Had they not known that Tokai was his father? Were they going to abandon him now? Maybe destroy him? He was pulled out of his swirling thoughts when something warm was placed on his lap.

He immediately registered the plate of steaming vegetables with soba noodles and chicken. The smell of pho broth and teriyaki reached his noise and his stomach made a small sound in response; perhaps he was hungrier than he thought. He glanced up from the plate and saw Kuroo lowering himself to the floor in front of him with his own steaming bowl in his hand.

The raven haired man folded his legs underneath himself, set his bowl on his lap, and clasped his hands in front of his face. Out of the corner of his eye he saw that Akaashi also had a small bowl on his lap and was now putting his own hands together as well. Robotically, Kei followed suit and all three of them uttered a small thanks before they started picking at their meal.

Kei stirred his stir-fry around his plate for a few moments before he set his utensils on the edge of the bowl. He opened his mouth to address the fact that they seemed to be ignoring the situation at hand when Kuroo spoke over him.

“Before you ask, I didn’t forget about Bo,” He sighed and indicated the steaming bowl of stir-fry on the counter, “I signaled to him through the window that there was food if he wanted it and he said that he would be right in.”

Kei frowned in confusion,

“That wasn’t…”

“Thank you for that Kuroo-san,” Akaashi inclined his head towards the raven, “If I would have had to do it, then Bokuto-san would have tried to convince me to practice with him a little bit before going in to eat.”

Kuroo smiled sly,

“That’s true~ as much as Bo loves his food, he loves throwing his fire balls all over the place more.”

Kei glanced between the two males as they ate their food. It was as if the tense silence from only moments before hadn’t happened. In fact, it was as if he hadn’t said anything at all. Kei stared down blankly at his bowl in thought.

“Ah Tsukki, are you alright?” Kuroo voiced from his position on the floor, “Is your chicken stir-fry okay?”

Kei’s eyebrows drew closer together and prepared to shove his foot in his mouth,

“I don’t understand.”

Kuroo laughed teasingly,

“And what do you not understand Tsukki? I thought ‘Kaashi was doing very well with explaining the situation; much better than any of us could have done at any rate.”

Kei’s mouth nearly dropped open in disbelief,

“I admitted to the both of you that Tokai is my father.”

“It’s not really an admission,” Kuroo shrugged his shoulders and placed his own utensils down, “We’ve known from the start that you were connected to him in some way.”

The blond continued to stare at the raven haired guardian blankly when he felt a light weight land on his forearm. He followed the olive-skinned hand from where it grasped onto his arm up to where Akaashi was staring at him with something akin to sympathy.

“What Kuroo-san is trying to say, is that Tsukishima-san revealed this to us when we first formed our collective. Bokuto-san, Kuroo-san and the other Guardians were also shown the prophecy that explained their duty to them at a young age; they knew what they were getting into.”

Kei continued to stare at them incomprehensively,

“But I’m the son of a monster; isn’t the normal reaction to be afraid of someone like me?”

“Don’t be silly Tsukki~ Everyone has a little bit of a monstrous streak, but you? There’s no way you could be a monster – you’re too conscientious of the people around you.”

Kei jumped at the sound of the familiarly boisterous voice and swivelled around to see that Bokuto had entered the room and was now leaning against the counter with his bowl of stir-fry in his hand. Soba noodles were hanging out of the corner of his mouth and he was staring at the three of them near the couch with an almost childlike innocence.

“Bo!~” Kuroo cheered as he noticed the bicoloured owl, “I didn’t even hear you come in man!”

Neither did anyone else it seemed.

Kei stared at the Fire Guardian in complete bafflement. He had no clue that someone like Bokuto even had the _ability_ to be quiet and sneak around like that. Not to mention the fact that he could say a word like _conscientious_ and use it appropriately in a sentence. Kei forced himself to stare down at his own bowl of noodles and stir them around instead of staring at the deceptive man leaning against the counter.

There was definitely more to him than meets the eye.

“It just sounded like you were all having an important chat and I didn’t want to interrupt it,” Bokuto slurped more of his noodles, “But when our Tsukki stared talking bad about himself I just had to say something.”

“Well good on you bro,” Kuroo smiled at the Fire Guardian genuinely, “We couldn’t have said it better ourselves.”

“I don’t know about that bro,” Bokuto paused in his eating and looked almost thoughtful, “Keiji is _really_ good with his words.”

Kei glanced at Kuroo warily as he noticed an almost predatory smirk spread across his face,

“‘Kaashi is good at _a lot_ of things~”

The blond felt something in his stomach stir at the almost sultry sound of Kuroo’s voice and he fought back the blush that wanted to spread across his face. That just had to be a coincidence or a jibe or something…there was no way that Kuroo was insinuating what he thought he was insinuating.

“That I am Kuroo-san,” Akaashi stepped in with a clearly unimpressed face, “and some of those things include making sure you’re unsatisfied for a prolonged amount of time; so I’d be careful of what you say in front of others.”

Kei stared at all three of them in complete disbelief. So this was actually happening? This was a thing? He had only known the three of them for a little over two days now, so he wasn’t one to judge what relationship they had or otherwise. He was more confused about the fact that he _didn’t notice_. He was usually pretty apt at reading these type of things and the fact that he hadn’t noticed the apparently blatant tie between Kuroo, Bokuto and Akaashi was befuddling to him.

Like he knew that there was something going on between Iwaizumi and Matsukawa; though he didn’t know the extent to their relationship, he could tell that they were close. Maybe a little like himself and Yamaguchi – maybe more; once again it wasn’t his place to judge nor his business. But when it came to these three he had no idea. He just assumed Bokuto and Akaashi were childhood friends, Bokuto and Kuroo were best friends and Akaashi just so happened to mother both of them because he had the ability to do so.

Now he knew that there might be _more_ to their relationship and he didn’t know how to feel about it. He didn’t feel bad or disgusted about it – if anything he was conflicted, maybe?

“Yo Kuroo-bro, I think you broke Tsukki.”

It was only then that Kei realized he was staring a little too intensely at his bowl of, now cold, stir-fry. He tore his gaze from the bowl and looked up to find three pairs of eyes staring at him with varying degrees of concern. Kei inhaled deeply and held his breath while counting to ten. He slowly released his breath and collected his thoughts to store them away for later analysis.

Perhaps once he and Yamaguchi sorted everything out, he’d ask him for his thoughts on the matter. He clearly knew Bokuto, Kuroo and Akaashi for a longer period of time, so maybe he’d be able to shine a little light on the situation.

“I am fine Bokuto-san,” Kei mumbled as he readjusted his glasses habitually, “I was just gathering my thoughts.”

“Oh,” The Fire Guardian nodded his head enthusiastically, “That’s always good! Keiji has always said that it’s good to think through things.”

“Yeah…”

Kei let his voice trail off and finally grabbed some of the vegetables from his stir-fry and put it in his mouth. A sensation of spices and textures embraced his taste buds as he chewed his meal; it was surprisingly edible. He went to grab some more when he felt a pair of smug eyes following the path of his hand.

“Ohohoh,” Kuroo smirked, “You enjoying the food I made Tsukki?~”

Kei paused in his movements and smirked at the cat-like man,

“It does what it’s supposed to I guess.”

The raven haired man squawked in indignation as Bokuto started hooting in the background; his waist bent in half as he failed to contain his laughter. He was even sure that he had heard Akaashi snort from beside him. Unbeknownst to himself, a small genuine smile started to spread across his lips as he brought some more vegetables to his mouth.

Yeah, he could get used to this.

Not that he’d ever say that out loud.

TBC


	7. Some Demons are Brought to Light

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kei and Bokuto have a brief heart to heart, and Matsukawa notices that Iwaizumi is starting to become a handful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been almost a year since I have updated, and all I have for you is this filler chapter.
> 
> I am so sorry about that.
> 
> I already have another chapter in the works, so hopefully I'll be able to get that posted so that you can get engaged in more fights or something ;)
> 
> I hope you enjoy the short chapter even with the long wait!
> 
> Sorry for any OOCness!
> 
> -sktrgrl

At some point, they must have fallen asleep because the next time that Kei opened his eyes, the sun was shining in through a different part of the window. Last he remembered the light was still high in the sky, most likely at its apex, but now it was starting to get a little darker; the sun now starting to reach its fingers towards the horizon once more to give way to night.

But even then, he had to guess that they still had a couple of hours before they were immersed into complete darkness.

It was when that thought reached his mind, when he realised just exactly what position he was in at the moment. In his sleep, he had listed somewhat to the side and had his head rested against the arm rest and he had only just noticed that a quilt had been draped over him. He slowly started to sit up and frozen when he felt another weight resting against his lower rib cage.

He shifted his gaze down and noticed that Akaashi was leaning against him; his stoic face relaxed in the realm of dreams. With his own version of empathy, Kei could sense that Akaashi was having pleasant dreams and seemed to be resting easy. He hadn’t known the other teen for very long, but he was willing to bet that he hadn’t been able to have a good rest like this in a while. 

Even if he was one of the ones who had managed to fall asleep on the train.

It was then that he realised that there was something soft beneath his fingers as well. Kei slowly moved the corner of the quilt away from where his hands seemed to be rested and saw that his long fingers had tangled themselves in Kuroo’s obnoxious bedhead. Like on the train, the teen’s mouth was wide open as he slept and his face was buried as far as it could be into the sofa cushion without suffocating.

Kei couldn’t help but smile softly to himself as he took in the sight. No matter how terrifying it looked and how strange it made him feel, he had to admit that there was something endearing about the way that Kuroo slept. Carefully, raised himself into a full sitting position without jostling the other two and glanced around the room.

It was then that he realised that a familiar horned head was suspiciously missing.

Kei frowned to himself and adjusted his glasses with a sigh. He somehow managed to maneuver himself away from Akaashi and adjusted him so that he could rest on the couch comfortably, and then stepped around Kuroo carefully as not to disrupt him in any way.

When he was able to right himself into some sort of standing position, he stretched his arms over he head and felt his back crack satisfactorily. He sensed a fiery presence outside the cottage door, and knew deep in his gut that it was none other than Bokuto. The strong and comforting presence just continued to call to him the closer he got to the doorway. Before he opened the door to head outside, he took one more glance towards the two sleeping on the couch and couldn’t stop the soft smile from spreading across his face. 

He was fortunate that there was no one else around to witness it.

The door creaked as Kei forced it open and stepped out into the clean, forest air. The sound of cicadas reached his ears and the cooling evening air was brushing against his skin. It didn’t take long for his honey brown gaze to settle on the tall, yet muscular frame of Bokuto who was facing the wall of trees doing weird motions with his arms and legs. 

If Kei had to label it, he would say that it was something kind of like yoga; only he would never think of Bokuto as someone who has the patience for something like yoga. But he’s come to learn that anything pertaining to the rag tag group who have been trying to save him is anything but stereotypical. 

“TSUKKI!”

Kei was abruptly pulled out of his thoughts by two muscular wrapping around him tightly and lifting him off the ground. A squeak escaped his throat as he was spun around quickly before he was placed back on his feet.

“Bokuto-san, was that really necessary?”

“Of course it was!” Bokuto chirped and blinked at him owlishly.

Kei rolled his eyes in exasperation,

“Of course.”

The two stood in silent for a few moments before Kei sighed under his breath,

“So Bokuto-san, what were you doing just now?”

“Hm?” The silverette raised an eyebrow, “I was just getting ready to practice my magic a little bit…”

“I see,” Kei frowned, “I thought you did that earlier today.”

“Yeah,” The fire user agreed, “But my magic, it gives me a lot of energy so I have to do stuff to kind of get it to  _ stop _ or else I would be setting off explosions like every minute of every day.”

Kei pursed his lips and frowned at Bokuto’s statement,

“Isn’t that a bit of an exaggeration?”

Bokuto laughed, but it almost seemed force to Kei’s ears,

“I wish I could say that it was Tsukki, but if you would have seen me a few years ago before I met Kuroo, before I met  _ Keiji _ , you wouldn’t be saying that. I scared everyone at my guild; no one wanted to come near me...it was the time in my life where I resented my magic and in a way resented  _ you _ .”

Kei couldn’t stop the resulting flinch that went through his body and he tried to hide it, but judging from the guilty look on Bokuto’s face, he hadn’t really succeeded in doing that; he was slipping. The blond reached into his bag of tricks and pulled out a familiar blank stare. 

“No Tsukki, I didn’t mean it like that,” Bokuto frowned; his luminous eyes serious for once, “When I learned of my place in the prophecy, when I learned why my magic was so strong, I didn’t care. At that point, I hated magic and I saw no enjoyment in it anymore -- I worked so hard to control it, but it kept failing me and in turn I kept failing my guild.

“It wasn’t until recently that I was able to find peace within myself and find enjoyment in using my magic. I want to use it to protect others. I want to prove to others that my magic can do more than burn things; I want to prove that just because my magic is unnaturally strong, that I am not a monster.”

Something within Kei resounded with what the older teen was saying. He didn’t know if it was the fire burning in Bokuto’s eyes or if it was because of the feelings that he was broadcasting, but Kei wanted to  _ believe _ in what Bokuto was saying. Like earlier that day, Bokuto was surprising him; he hadn’t realise how insightful the fire user was.

“Bokuto-san, you are anything but a Monster.”

Bokuto seemed to blink at him for a moment before an easy smile spread across his face; a heavy hand falling down on Kei’s shoulder, jostling his glasses a little bit.

“Why thank you Tsukki,” He smiled brightly, “That means a lot coming from someone like you; and don’t worry, when you have  _ your _ moment you’ll realise that you’re not a monster either.”

Kei’s eyes widened and his heart sped up in his chest,

“Bokuto-san…”

“Now enough chatting,” Bokuto interrupted him easily, “What do you say to practicing a little bit?”

The young Light stared at the silver haired teen uncomprehendingly before a crooked smile spread across his face,

“A little bit of practice wouldn’t hurt; it’s time that I start understand this power don’t you think?”

Bokuto whooped loudly and started talking rapidly; Kei could barely understand what he was saying at this point. 

But he did agree with the fact that he had a lot to learn before Tokai made his presence known.

XxXxXxXxXx

Matsukawa Issei was exhausted.

It felt like he had been walking for hours without rest, and in all honesty he probably had been. Sure, he  _ had _ gotten some rest on the train, but he didn’t realise that the pick-up point to get the other two guardians was so far away; especially since he had to wear his armour. Matsukawa sighed under his breath and placed his hands on his hips as he listened to Yamaguchi Tadashi and Tsukishima Akiteru bickering with one another about the direction they were supposed to be going in.

Seriously, they were acting like they weren’t on the run from a bunch of dark creatures and the King of Darkness.

He glanced out of the corner of his eye and he noticed that Iwa wasn’t too pleased with the situation at hand either. His scowl seemed to be much more pronounced than usual and his eyebrow was twitching in that familiar way that proved that he was about to combust; his hot temper never really matched his magic in the slightest.

Well, that is until he cracked the Earth open like an egg.

Matsukawa walked over to one of his oldest friends and leaned against a nearby tree as he studied him; it was easy to see that the stress from over the past couple days was starting to grate on his nerves. 

“Iwa,” Matsukawa began.

“Don’t even bother Matsukawa.” Iwa huffed under his breath in annoyance.

Matsukawa scowled at the raven haired male,

“What is with you lately? You’ve been more irritable than usual and it’s getting old.”

“If you’re getting tired of me, then why are you still here?” Iwa ground out, “We both know that you don’t have to be.”

Matsukawa stepped away from him as if he had been slapped; his lazy eyes widening in disbelief. Almost as if realising what he had just said, Iwa glanced away and stared daggers into the dusty ground. The taller male raised a hand to place it on Iwa’s shoulder, but the earth user had quickly stepped away; once again withdrawing into himself.

“After Hanamaki drops off those two losers, you should leave with him.” Iwa muttered, “There’s nothing you can do here now; you’ll just get hurt.”

“Don’t you dare start doing this Hajime,” Matsukawa hissed under his breath as he wrapped his large hands on both of Iwa’s shoulders, “I know that the anniversary is coming, but…”

“THAT,” Iwaizumi hissed back, “has nothing to do with this.”

“Like hell it doesn’t.” Matsukawa glared at him, “We lost him that day too, Hajime, don’t you ever forget that!”

It was then that silence entered his ears and he realised what was happening. Matsukawa raised his gaze from Iwa’s and noticed that both Yamaguchi and Tsukishima were staring at the two of them uncomprehendingly. Matsukawa retracted his hands from Iwa’s shoulders and stepped away from him; wiping the sadness and anger from his face as he turned to face the other two completely.

“Hey, are you two alright?” Yamaguchi asked with a sympathetic face.

“Yeah, we’re fine.” Matsukawa tried to reassure him, “Just a little tired I think; we should get going so we can return back to the cottage before dark don’t you think?”

Tsukishima pursed his lips,

“I guess you have a point there, but if you and Iwaizumi-kun want to…”

“No,” Matsukawa cut him off harshly, “We don’t have anything else to say to each other at the moment.”

“Issei,” Iwa’s gruff voice reached his ears.

“I said  _ no _ , Hajime.” He growled, “We’ll get this sorted when Takahiro gets here; you’ve been brooding for long enough, it’s time that we set you straight.”

At that moment he could hear Hanamaki cackling at his choice of wording; especially since there was absolutely nothing straight about the three of them. Matsukawa stalked passed Iwa and towards the other two. 

He pointed his finger towards an outcrop of trees,

“If we head in this direction, we’ll get to a clearing; that’s going to be where Makki and the others will show up.”

Tsukishima frowned,

“How do you know that there’s an opening there?”

“Stop being so suspicious of everyone Tsukishima, especially the people who have been here since the beginning,” Iwa spoked up from somewhere behind them, “I can’t sense any trees in that direction; well, at least I don’t sense an abundance of roots under that layer of Earth. If Makki is going to use his transportation magic, he’ll need an open space or else he will end up leveling all the trees in his vicinity.”

Yamaguchi whistled under his breath,

“I didn’t realise that Hanamaki-san’s teleportation magic was so powerful.”

Iwaizumi simply shrugged and went back into silence, but Matsukawa couldn’t stop the small smile spreading across his face; even if he was mad at him. Without another word, the tall metal mage led the three others through the outcrop of trees. The four of them walked in complete silence; the only sound being their feet as they stomped across the ground or crunched leaves in their stride. 

Unwittingly, Matsukawa found his mind traveling ever so frequently to Iwa, but he tried his best not to. He knew that this time of year was tough on Iwa, it was tough on all of them after all; for Makki, for Matsukawa himself and for the Aoba Jousai guild as a whole. This time of year of a time of remembrance. A time of mourning. A time of separation. A time of complete and utter loss.

A time when Tokai had attacked the guild, nearly killed all three of them, stolen a fourth, and murdered their master in cold blood.

It also signified the time that the three of them became trapped in the non-magic world.

A time that had left permanent scars on not only their souls, but on Iwaizumi’s skin.

Scars that would never truly fade.

But at the same time, it did not give Iwaizumi the right to pull away from him like he was. If anything, it was a time that they should be trying to stick together. They had to rely on each other, they had to heal each other. That’s why Matsukawa was meant to protect Hajime as he was meant to all those years ago when he had inevitably failed.

Iwa was right, he was not meant to be Tsukishima Kei’s guardian.

But he was sure as hell meant to be Iwaizumi Hajime’s.

And this time he wasn’t going to fail.

It wasn’t long until the four mages had managed to break through the trees; a large open field stretching out before all their eyes. Iwa was correct, although there were trees  _ surrounding _ the clearing, there was a surprising absence of them within it. Most of the life in the field being created by the dandelions and other weeds stretching across the plain like a blanket.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the tension in Iwa’s shoulders had released a bit as the open life of the Earth flooded his senses; he loved when Iwa was relaxed like this. Matsukawa was pulled out of his thoughts when a flash of lightning speared across the sky; followed quickly by a crash of thunder.

Matsukawa raised his eyes to the sky and saw that a large magic circle had appeared amongst the clouds; it’s bright turquoise colour standing in stark contrast to the overcast sky. He watched as a bright pink light shot down from the symbol like a spotlight and in mere moments, three distinct shadows appeared at the base of the light in the middle of the clearing.

When the light started to clear, the ground rumbled and the immediately surrounding plant life died as they were swallowed by mini flames. When the smoke finally cleared and the light completely disappeared, the three shadowed figures were easier to make out. One was someone that Matsukawa had never seen before; he was very short, with ginger hair and seemed to be vibrating with excitement. The tallest in the group, but only by a little bit, with strawberry pink hair was none other than Hanamaki Takahiro; his partner in crime and second part of his four part soul.

As for the third…

“Hanamaki,” Iwa’s disbelieving voice reached his ears, “Is that…”

“Kageyama Tobio,” Matsukawa muttered, “Fate truly is a bitch.”


	8. A little Wind and Gravity and the World Falls to Pieces

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Iwaizumi goes head to head with his past...  
> Kei realises that things are about to get even more complicated...  
> Yet another villain rears its head...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy mackerel...  
> Talk about a long chapter...  
> I am so sorry for the long wait, hopefully this will make up for it!  
> Also I am sorry if things don't quite make sense -- I'm probably going to revisit this at some point to redo it or something LOL  
> I also apologise for an OOC characters -- I really tried okay?? LOL

He knew that his life never ran smooth and probably never would, but  _ this _ was almost unprecedented. 

It was as if fate decided that his life wasn’t screwed up enough and it just had to hit him with something else. Now, don’t get Iwaizumi wrong, he never hated the kid...that was all  _ Him _ , and it wasn’t so much hate than jealousy...but still, to see the brat again after all these years. 

The worst part was he couldn’t even deny the fact that it was the same Kageyama Tobio from back then. 

Sure, almost twelve years has passed since his very world was taken from him, but Kageyama Tobio still looks the same as he did when they were children. Of course he was taller -- taller than Iwaizumi himself even, the brat -- but his raven hair, deep blue eyes and facial structure were identical. If he paid a little more attention, he would’ve noticed that the key difference relied on the fact that the boy was a lot more stoic than what he was; his emotions seemed more guarded.

But of course he was still distracted by the fact that  _ Kageyama Tobio _ had just completed a teleportation jump with Makki. 

Which meant that he was part of the Guardians and the prophecy in some way.

Whether it be in the same way as Mattsun and Makki or one of the key players -- well, he was going to find that out. Either way, Mattsun wasn’t far off when he said ‘fate was a bitch’. 

“Wow,” Makki’s teasing voice reached his ears and pulled him from his thoughts, “I wasn’t expecting such a welcoming committee when we arrived; you all must have missed me.”

Iwaizumi couldn’t help the small smile that spread across his face at the sound of the pink haired boy’s voice. He wouldn’t ever admit it, but he missed Makki with every little bit of his heart while they have been separated. But, as much as it hurt him, he knew that it hurt Mattsun even more. All of them might have been tied to each other, but Makki and Mattsun were always closer…

Just like Iwaizumi and  _ Him _ .

The raven frowned to himself and pushed the memories that were trying to make themselves known back into the box where they belonged. 

Now was not the time to think about that. They had a job to do.

He was distracted enough as it was; even Mattsun was getting tired of him. Which, as he was an honest person, hurt even more than he thought it would; he knew that it was an inevitability. He was aware of how he has changed in the past twelve years, and it would be exhausting for anyone. It was a surprise that Mattsun and Makki had lasted this long. 

Even he wanted to punch himself; the old him wouldn’t have hesitated to...

“ _ Iwa-chan, you need to stop being such a brute~ _ ”

Iwaizumi sighed heavily through his nose and turned his gaze away from the conversing group. He closed his eyes briefly and pinched the bridge of his nose. It’s been twelve years, and he could still hear his grating and whiny voice ringing in his ears. Back then, he never thought he would ever missing something or someone this much.

Now, it was even a wonder some days that he was still breathing. 

Phantom pain coursed over the tops of shoulder blades to the middle of his back causing to roll his shoulders in response; a light grimace contorting his features. There was nothing more annoying than the lingering pain of a wound that he could barely remember getting; especially since the mental pain from the days prior was much worse.

Much more everlasting.

“Iwa-Iwa,” A familiar voice trilled playfully in his ear as a pair of long arms draped himself over his aching shoulders, “What, am I not even worth a ‘hello’-smile or glance? You wound me~”

Iwaizumi rolled his eyes in response, but raising a head to pat the semi-pale forearm nonetheless,

“Hello Makki; it’s been a while.”

Makki cackled loudly in his ear before releasing him,

“‘It’s been a while’ he says; really Iwa, you couldn’t have come up with something more romantic than that?”

Iwaizumi simply shrugged his shoulders, unsure of how he was meant to respond to that; but, judging by the disappointed and pained glance he received from Makki in response to his reaction, he was willing to bet that he made the wrong choice. 

“Just leave our stone-hearted other quarter alone Makki,” Mattsun’s deep voice came from his other side, “He’s been a little cranky lately.”

To most, it would seem as though Mattsun was teasing him at his expense; which isn’t something strange to the Guardians or the other guilds. But, Iwaizumi and Makki, they could tell the difference. The earth manipulator hid a flinch at Mattsun’s statement; after all, as much as it hurt, he wasn’t necessarily wrong. Iwaizumi watched as Makki’s inquisitive eyes shot between the two of them; trying to piece together what exactly he had missed since they had been separated from each other. 

“Hanamaki,” Akiteru’s stern voice broached the tension surrounding the three, “I know you want to catch up with Matsukawa and Iwaizumi, but maybe it’s time you tell us who exactly these two pipsqueaks are.”

A weight seemed to drop down onto Makki’s shoulders as the teleporter turned towards the much larger group who seemed to be watching the three of them with some sort of interest.

“Well, I figured that they would have taken it upon themselves to introduce who they were, so I apologise for slacking on my duty instead of checking in on my family.” The pinket bit out flippantly.

“Makki.” Iwaizumi frowned somewhat disapprovingly.

“Yeah, yeah,” He waved him off and approached Kageyama Tobio and the orange haired energiser bunny he had brought along for the ride, “I know Iwa, not everyone can appreciate my sassiness; I’ll try and control myself.”

Iwaizumi watched with wide eyes as Makki left his side and went to the front of the group once more. He was reunited with the pink haired teleporter for only a matter of moments, and he had already managed to push him away. He shifted his gaze to Mattsun and saw that he too had moved away from Iwaizumi to listen to what Makki had to tell them all.

Iwaizumi wanted to place himself on a separate island, and so far, he was succeeding. 

“So these two boys are the convoys from the Karasuno Guild.” Makki’s gestured towards the two of them, “This hyperactive shorty over here is Hinata Shoyo, the Guardian of Wind while this tall glass of water is none other than Kageyama Tobio, gravity manipulator; he’s pretty much around to make sure that Hinata stays grounded.”

“From Karasuno, huh?” Matsukawa smiled at the new arrivals toothily, “So the Fallen Crows will be joining the fray; how are Sawamura and Sugawara doing these days?”

Iwaizumi couldn’t focus enough to hear the response. Not that he didn’t care about the Karasuno Guild nor the new arrivals, but his mind had other ideas.

_ Wind  _ and  _ Gravity _ .

Two sides of one coin.

Forces that would naturally oppose each other, but could just as naturally work as one to strengthen offences and bolster defenses. 

_ Gravity _ .

The ability that He had once feared would result in the destruction of His destiny. 

The ability that made Him believe that he would be left behind as Mattsun, Makki, and himself were thrown into indiscernible danger while he could do nothing more than watch from the sidelines. 

The ability that  _ destroyed _ Him without so much as touching Him.

A part of him hated that ability that was carried by Kageyama Tobio, but unlike Him he never put that blame on the user. 

But He was just petty like that.

Despite that inherent pettiness, that childishness, Iwaizumi Hajime would always hold near and dear to his heart.

Even though twelve years have passed since that day…he had never stopped loving him. 

And he would always bear the scars of loving his best friend, and not being strong enough to protect him.

XxXxXxXxXx

It wasn’t long before Kei was sweating.

There was no point in denying it, after all before this day Kei avoided any type of recreational activity that he could. He had a naturally athletic build due to his unsurmountable height and long limbs, but unlike most he didn’t feel the need to put these natural talents to practice. He had always placed a much larger stake in his intelligence and worked to hone that.

His intelligence will get him far in life.

His athletic ability? Well, maybe it would get him through university, but that’s as far as it would probably take him.

That was reality.

Or, it  _ used _ to be his reality.

Now it seems all his half-assedness in all things athletic were now out to get him.

Kei was leaning against a nearby tree, bent nearly in half, as he tried to gain his breath and relieve the stitch in his side. His head was pounding slightly from tapping into his abilities and his hands were getting clammy, but he finally felt as though he was starting to gain some sort of control over his Light. It felt as though he now had something tangible to hold onto instead of something that he could just barely grasp. 

He forced himself to straighten so that the back of his head was rested against the rough bark of the tree. He adjusted his thick rimmed lenses as he watched his three ‘babysitters’ sparring in the Bokuto-delegated training arena. Bokuto’s energy was a force of its own, but to see both Kuroo and Akaashi matching him was definitely a sight to behold 

At the moment, Kuroo had his signature smirk contorting the plains of his face into nothing short of terrifying; and if not terrifying, then definitely unsettling. His water abilities were swirling around the palms of his calloused hands as he faced off against Bokuto, whose own forearms were drenched in his red-orange flames; his owl-like golden eyes watching the sly black cat with the most rapt attention possible. 

It was as if nothing would sway him from his prey.

The two of them danced around each other; waiting for the other to make the first move. Kei’s eyes drifted towards Akaashi who was standing close by; his gunmetal blue eyes also not leaving the two as they circled each other.

“Bokuto-san, Kuroo-san,” Akaashi called out to them warningly, “Don’t burn down the cottage, I would hate for all of us to have to sleep on the cold, hard ground because of your idiocy.”

Bokuto squawked as though he were wounded,

“Keeeiijjjjiiii, have faith in me!”

Akaashi smiled softly and rolled his eyes,

“I have all the faith in you Bokuto-san, which is why I am saying if you  _ do _ burn down the entire cottage and this forest then I will give you  _ both _ the silent treatment.”

“Alright ‘Kaashi,” Kuroo smiled slyly, “We hear you; we’ll be good.”

Within the next moment, Kuroo finally released a blast of his magic and sent a blast of water rocketing towards Bokuto who immediately created a wall of flames. The water bouncing off the barrier and sizzling like oil on a wok pan; the steam rising into the air creating a fog so thick that it was hard to see even two feet in front of you.

Kei thoughtlessly pulled off his glasses and attempted to clean them -- thinking for a moment that that would help him see through the fog better -- only to jump when he felt a hand fall upon his shoulder. 

_ Sorry for startling you Tsukishima-kun _ . 

Kei immediately relaxed and replaced his glasses on his face; his honey brown gaze falling on the slightly shorter male whose own eyes were still on the idiots brawling on the ground in front of them. At the moment, Bokuto had dived towards Kuroo and they were now exchanging in some hand to hand combat; successfully blocking each other’s blows before they could even manage to land a direct hit. 

“They’re amazing aren’t they?” Kei muttered absently.

_ Amazing idiotic,  _ Akaashi whispered across his mind,  _ but definitely skilled. If there is anyone you want on your side in this battle, it would be these two. _

Kei watched the older male out of the corner of his eye; he seemed adamant in conversing telepathically. The blond frowned to himself thoughtfully and tried to open his own mental wards. Who said that he only had to practice the physical aspects of his Light abilities?

_ I’d say that you’re pretty important to have in battle too Akaashi-san… _

He wouldn’t have been able to tell if he had succeeded in the mental communication, if he hadn’t noticed the slight twitch at the corner of Akaashi’s lips. If he had thought that he was a blank slate, he truly had nothing on the likes of Akaashi.

_ I have my own role to play, just as everyone else; but sometimes, it’s hard to remember that when you’re surrounded by so many ‘monsters’. _

Kei frowned at Akaashi’s choice in wording, but he knew that it was not intended in the way that he said it. He saw how Akaashi interacted with Bokuto and Kuroo; there was no way that he saw those two as monsters. Yes, their abilities had monstrous capabilities and could seem scary to someone on the outside, but Kuroo and Bokuto themselves were both kind hearted and warm. 

They both exuded a warmth that Kei couldn’t help but be drawn to.

And it seemed as though Akaashi Keiji struggled to fight against that warmth as well.

Not that Akaashi was cold. No. Akaashi was warm in his own way.

While Bokuto was like a roaring fire, and Kuroo like a cleansing hot spring, Akaashi was a sunny summer; ever changing, but still dependently warm. 

God, if Yamaguchi could see his thought processes now; he would never hear the end of it.

_ But,  _ Akaashi continued; oblivious to Kei’s mental musings,  _ even if we’re not all ‘monsters’ there are some real ones out there… ones that we must face and ones we must win against. _

Kei was about to voice his own response when both Kuroo and Bokuto immediately stopped fighting; frozen in their positions as if caught by motion-capture. Kuroo had his arm drawn back, his magic swirling around his palms as Bokuto mirrored him, but with his flames dancing across his own. Both of their heads turned towards an opening in the trees and it was only then that Kei picked up on multiple footsteps coming towards them; the crunching of leaves, branches and pine needles announcing their approach.

For a moment, Kei was worried that the enemy had found them and that they were hopelessly outmatched. However, he found himself relaxing when he didn’t feel the swarming Darkness settling in the pit of his stomach. Seemingly sensing his relaxation, Akaashi also relaxed his posture and sent a furtive glance towards the other two who also relaxed their positions. 

The next thing the four of them knew, the space around them started to ripple and allowed seven figures to entire the safety of the cottage. Kei immediately recognised Yamaguchi, Aki, Matsukawa and Iwaizumi, but also noticed the three faces of their new arrivals. Although there wasn’t anything dark following the group of seven, Kei still sensed that something wasn’t quite right.

It was if something was hanging over them all; an overarching shadow that was pressing upon their shoulders, causing them to doubt in what they were doing. Causing them to doubt each other.

Kei’s eyes narrowed critically as his gaze fell upon Iwaizumi. His hands were shoved deep in his pockets; his shoulders hunched somewhat defensively, though his forest green eyes were focused on the ground in front of him. Kei frowned to himself as he sensed the self-loathing rolling off the older male in waves. If he had to guess, the self-loathing somehow seemed  _ worse _ than it was before. 

And the strange part of all this, was that this self-loathing that he was feeling was  _ familiar _ .

Yes, he had sensed it off of Iwaizumi when he had first met him...but this...this was different. He knew that he had felt this before. He just could not figure out  _ where _ . His gaze automatically swivelled from the slightly hunched over Iwaizumi to look at the closest person Iwaizumi had in their little group; Matsukawa. The much taller metal manipulator was as far from the shorter male as he could possibly be; his attention forcefully away from the Earth manipulator. 

If possible Kei’s frown deepened. 

Now  _ that _ was odd.

“Finally, I never thought that you lot would ever make it back” Kuroo called out boisterously with his hands on his hips; his sly smirk firmly on his face, “What took you so long?”

“We didn’t take that long,” Aki pushed his blond hair out of his eyes, “If it was such a problem waiting with Kei then you should have went with the group while Yamaguchi and I stayed here.”

Well that was interesting.

Kei raised an inquisitive eyebrow at Akaashi who merely stared straight ahead without any hint of surprise or emotion on his face. He tried to focus in on Kuroo’s own reaction to the statement, but the raven haired man revealed no visible reaction either; and with Iwaizumi’s self-loathing suffocating everything around them, it was hard for Kei to get any sort of empathetic reading on the situation either. 

How bothersome. 

He couldn’t dwell on that thought for much longer before an annoying sound grated on his ears…

“Uwa! Sensei said that his cottage was in the middle of nowhere, but I didn’t think he was serious! Did you Bakageyama?! SUGEOI!”

Kei felt his eye twitch as his attention was brought front and center to the hyperactive ginger shorty that was practically bouncing on the balls of his feet. He was clutching onto the sleeve of a much taller boy beside him; his raven hair nearly falling into his deep blue eyes and a scowl twisting his otherwise vacant face. 

There was just something about that taller one that pissed him off. 

“Dumbass Hinata!” The taller raven karate chopped the crown of the gingers head, “Stop being so loud; Daichi-senpai and Suga-senpai told us we had to make an impression. IDIOT!”

Kei could feel his headache forming already.

“Daichi-senpai and Suga-senpai, eh?” Bokuto laughed deeply before pointing dramatically at the two new arrivals, “You’re from Karasuno!”

Akaashi finally seemed to frown,

“Karasuno...Fukurodani was under the impression that that guild held no stake in the upcoming battle.”

“Neither did Nekoma,” Kuroo hummed in agreement; a thoughtful look spreading across his face, “As far as we knew the Crows had long since died out as a guild; what with Tokai annihilating their entire village.”

“Don’t look down on our guild!” The ginger shouted as he pointed an accusing finger at the bed-headed water manipulator; a sudden wind starting to whisper its way through the trees.

As if sensing something stirring in the air, Kuroo seemed to draw back a slight step; his arms raising defensively with his palms out placatingly,

“Woah there shorty, I wasn’t saying anything bad about your guild; I was just stating a fact.”

“Oh yeah?” The raven spoke up sharply, “And what fact is that?”

Silence descended on the group as the raven’s words seemed to hang in the air. Kei wasn’t sure anyone was going to break it until Iwaizumi’s gruff voice breached the tense atmosphere.

“That Karasuno is a flock of flightless crows.”

Kei’s eyebrows furrowed at the blunt statement; unsure as to what Iwaizumi could possibly mean. However, whatever it meant it didn’t seem to matter because the lynch pin that seemed to be holding the ginger in place seemed to have finally been released. 

“Take. That. Back.”

Instantaneously, the wind picked up exploded; forcing Kei to throw his arms in front of his face to protect it from flying sticks and gravel as they pelted down on the group. The blond clicked his tongue in annoyance as he watched as the much shorter male released a full frontal attack on Iwaizumi sending the man backwards and into a nearby tree; a harsh grunt leaving his lips.

“Iwa-Iwa,” The pinket standing near Matsukawa seemed to sigh, “You really need to have a little more tact.”

Though most of the pinket’s statement seemed to be drowned out by the roaring winds; especially as Iwaizumi seemed to right himself with a fire burning in his forest green irises. Kei watched as Iwaizumi stepped away from the tree, completely believing that the shorter male was going to respond in kind, but was surprised to see that he didn’t make a move to remove his sneakers and bury his toes in the dirt beneath his feet. 

“Our senpai have worked hard to make Karasuno fly again,” The ginger stated furiously; his small hands curling at his sides, “I will not let you talk about our home in that way.”

“And you, Hinata Shoyo will need to learn to control your anger.” Iwaizumi said bluntly; rolling his shoulders, “If you do not learn to control yourself, you will easily fall to Tokai and will cause the ruin of us all.”

“That’s a bit harsh Iwa,” Bokuto stated knowingly, “He is younger than us you know?”

Iwaizumi’s sharp gaze shot towards the horned owl,

“Age is but a number when it comes to war; you should know that better than anyone Bokuto.”

Kei watched as the colour seemed to drain from Bokuto’s face; an almost imperceptible frown overtaking his normally bright visage. The blond felt himself scowl at Iwaizumi’s statement, but found that he didn’t have to say anything as Akaashi felt the need to step forward; his own eyes blazing like a thousand suns. 

“Watch your tongue Iwaizumi Hajime; you’re treading on some very dangerous territory -- territory that not even you quite understand.”

“I know very well of what I speak of.” Iwaizumi whispered harshly, “I wouldn’t be saying any of this if I didn’t. I am not one to waste words on hopes and niceties. I am telling you that if Hinata cannot channel his anger, then he will be the end of us all.”

Kei clenched his fist at his side; his own magic starting to sizzle through his veins. No matter how harsh Iwaizumi was being, logically, he could understand where he was coming from. In the same way that Kei was seeing is inadequacy with his Light as a liability for the coalition, Iwaizumi was seeing Hinata’s anger as one as well. And if he were being completely honest, the thought of the emotionally driven shrimp being in charge of his safety was not very appealing.

“Iwaizumi,” Matsukawa called out to the Earth manipulator; a stern expression on his usually lazy face, “You have a point, but wasn’t it you who used to say that there is more than one person on a team?”

The shorter male seemed to flinch in response, but the pinket standing beside Matsukawa didn’t seem to want Iwaizumi to dwell on it for too long:

“Even if shrimpy does screw up, which he undoubtedly will, there are ten others who will clean up his mess.”

Iwaizumi’s shoulders dropped at the pinket’s words seemed to settle over him. Kei could still sense the self-loathing burning inside of him, but he could also tell that it seemed a little more manageable. There seemed to be some underlying tension between the three of them, and while it wasn’t in Kei’s nature to care about strangers, he still wanted to know what had brought these three people apart.

“Iwaizumi-senpai…”

Along with the Earth user and everybody else in the clearing, Kei’s eyes found that of the raven haired boy; his blue eyes burning with a sort of intensity as he stared at Iwaizumi.

“So long as I am here, Hinata Shoyo will be the strongest he can be” The raven thrusted his finger towards Hinata accusingly, “My main purpose in this prophecy is to ensure that this boke does not screw up and I will kick his ass if he so much as sneezes in the wrong direction.”

Kei’s eyebrow twitched as he stared at the raven; he really was an arrogant piece of shit wasn’t he. Honestly, with the way he was sounding, he was more of a ‘king’ than Kei could ever be.

“I know that things have been difficult for you Iwaizumi-senpai,” The raven averted his gaze and flexed his fingers, “Especially with what happened to Oikawa-senpai....”

Kei didn’t know what it was that the raven said, but it seemed as though the world seemed to explode into pure chaos.

In a split second, the very earth split beneath their feet sending all eleven of them sprawling. Kei had lost his balance and tumbled into Akaashi who was barely able to support them both as the ground cried in sheer agony. The self-loathing that was beginning to settle in Iwaizumi seemed to return ten-fold as a green aura swallowed his figure; his fists quivering at his sides as he struggled to get himself under control.

“Kageyama!” Matsukawa’s harsh voice rang out as he tried to stabilise his movements, “Fix this now.”

Kei glanced over at the blue eyed raven who seemed to be staring at Iwaizumi with a mix of fear and guilt. None of the other eleven members seemed able to move due to the movement of the earth; most of them flattening themselves onto their stomachs with their hands over their heads. Kei cursed under his breath and dug deep within himself, pulling his Light forth just as nearby trees started to uproot themselves. 

Just as before, a dome of protective light descended up on the group effectively shielding them from a physical onslaught from above; branches uselessly bouncing off the golden force field. Kei raised his head and tried to make eye contact with the raven haired boy.

“Oi Idiot,” He spat harshly, “Do something about this  _ now _ .”

Kageyama seemed to turn his head to stare at him blankly which only prompted Kei growl under his breath in annoyance,

“Aren’t you listening? Get off your throne and damn well fix what you started.”

He didn’t know what it was about his sentence, but Kageyama seemed to snap into action. His hands raising almost on autopilot; a light blue light coating his fingers. Kei watched as the ground was being forced to stabilise under the boy’s pressure. Slowly but surely, the rising sections of earth were pushed back into their places within the ground like puzzle pieces returning to their appropriate spots. 

It was at that moment that Iwaizumi seemed to get better control of himself the aura that surrounded him seemed to fall back under his control. However, Kei could still feel that overwhelming power singing underneath his skin -- looking for a way to get out once more. Iwaizumi’s chest heaved as the ground completely silenced; his green eyes shooting around the clearing. 

Kei followed his gaze and watched as Kuroo and Bokuto struggled to their feet; a relief sweeping through him as he realised that they were alright. That relief only growing as he realised that Yamaguchi and Aki were also safe and sound. He didn’t even have to look at Akaashi to know that he was alright as he had been beside him the whole time. But even then, Kei couldn’t help but feel relieved by the fact that Akaashi was alright.

His eyes were then drawn to Hinata who was getting to legs weaker than that of a baby deer’s with Kageyama looking pale-faced and borderline ill. Kei scowled as it was no doubt Kageyama’s statement that sent Iwaizumi over the edge. The blond then swept his eyes over to Matsukawa and the pinket who were both watching Iwaizumi with looks akin to pain on their faces. Kei knew that the pain wasn’t superficial, as neither of the men had wounds -- but, he could still recognise that pain regardless.

It was the sound of crunching leaves that drew Kei’s attention back to Iwaizumi himself. The shorter male had turned on his heel and headed out of the clearing and out of the vicinity of the cottage; the ward rippling as his form disappeared through it. Kei frowned to himself as he pushed himself to his feet.

Catching the glimpse of faint pale markings through the back of Iwaizumi’s destroyed jumper. Something seemed to tickle at the back of Kei’s mind; almost as if a memory were trying to break its way through. Almost mindlessly, Kei moved to follow Iwaizumi only to have someone catch onto the sleeve of his own white jumper. 

Kei turned to face Akaashi who was watching with unreadable eyes. 

_ Give him time Tsukishima-kun, Iwaizumi-san will return once he is ready _ .

Normally, that would be all the excuse that the blond would need in order to step away from the responsibility of any given situation. However, there was something about Iwaizumi that was telling Kei that he had to follow him. 

Iwaizumi Hajime’s self-loathing has gone on too long.

_ Sorry Akaashi-san, it’s time that I had a conversation with Iwaizumi-san _ .  _ Please get the others to go into the cottage -- including Matsukawa-san and his friend _ .

Akaashi studied him carefully before seemingly coming to a conclusion. The brunet nodded his head once before turning to face the rest of the group,

“I believe that is more than enough excitement for one day; how about we go inside and have some dinner to replenish ourselves.”

Bokuto stared at Akaashi innocently,

“Keiji, are you sure that that’s a good idea?”

“Of course,” Akaashi responded without hesitation, “We do have a few things we need to discuss with our new visitors do we not?”

The silver haired fire user hummed and put his hands behind his head,

“Yeah, I guess you’re right...but Iwa…”

“Will be perfectly alright Bo,” Kuroo nodded his head encouragingly as he patted the other Guardian’s shoulder, “He knows what he’s doing.”

In Kei’s opinion, Bokuto still seemed wholefully unconvinced but he still nodded his head in understanding as he made his way towards the cottage. Putting his large hands on both Hinata and Kageyama’s shoulders as he did so; leading them towards the front doors.

“C’mon you two,” He laughed jovially, “Let’s go inside -- big brother Bo will fill you in on everything that you need to know ~” 

The others seemed to take the hint that it was time to head inside the cottage. Matsukawa and the pinket lingered for a moment before Akaashi approached them himself,

“Matsukawa-san, Hanamaki-san,” Akaashi stared at both men evenly, “I know that you want to go after Iwaizumi-san, but I think it is best that you all cool off.”

Matsukawa frowned to himself and his arms shook slightly by his side. He opened his mouth as though he were about to say something, but the pinket -- Hanamaki -- simply pulled on his arm to get his attention.

“Akaashi is right Mattsun,” He whispered feverently, “We need to let him gather himself; he won’t know how to face us right now.”

Matsukawa looked as though he was about to fight it, but with one final glance from Hanamaki the typically lazy brunet made his way around Akaashi and towards the cottage. They stood so close together that they virtually seemed to be a singular person; but at the same time, Kei couldn’t help but feel that they looked fairly incomplete. As they made their way through the doors of the cottage, Kei made eye contact with Akaashi who nodded at him imperceptibly as he too made his way towards the door.

Kei watched the slightly shorter male for a brief moment before he turned on his heel and started his own way towards the wards. He was about a step away from the wards when a hand fell on his shoulder. He fought back a flinch of surprise as he turned around to look into his brother’s and best friend’s brown eyes.

“Kei, aren’t you going to come in to have something to eat?” Akiteru inquired softly; worry dancing in the shadow of his gaze.

The blond sighed under his breath and fought the urge to roll his eyes,

“You and I both know that I have something else I need to take care of nii-san.”

Akiteru appraised him thoughtfully,

“I know, but I think Akaashi is right; Iwaizumi needs time to collect himself.”

“I don’t agree nii-san,” Kei stated obstanently, “I  _ need _ to talk to Iwaizumi-san. If I don’t what happened today will happen again, I can feel it.”

“Kei…”

“Aki-nii,” Yamaguchi cut him off, “I think Tsukki is right this time. Something is clearly bother Iwaizumi-san and while it is the Guardians’ duty to protect him, it is also his duty to protect them.”

Kei clicked his tongue and looked away from Yamaguchi’s understanding gaze,

“I wouldn’t go that far Yamaguchi, I just rather not die in some freak accident that could have been prevented.”

Yamaguchi chuckled under their breath,

“Whatever you say Tsukki.”

Akiteru seemed to appraise him once more before sighing in defeat,

“Fine, but if you can’t find him right away you need to come straight back behind the wards -- do you understand?”

Kei rolled eyes,

“Loud and clear nii-san.”

Akiteru reached up and ruffled his hair affectionately before turning on his heel and heading towards the cottage and heading inside. Kei focused his attention on Yamaguchi who had that fierce determination on his face again. 

“I’ll wait for you right here Tsukki.”

“You don’t have to do that Yamaguchi…”

“No,” The brunet shook his head in determination, “I’ll wait here for both of you to come back and if you don’t then I will come after you myself.”

Kei shook his head fondly, but forced himself to scowl indifferently,

“Do what you want.”

Yamaguchi once again chuckled under his breath as though they shared some sort of private joke. It was moments like these that Kei truly appreciate Yamaguchi. He knew that he could trust his freckled friend implicitly, and even with everything that has been happening lately he knew that he could trust Yamaguchi with his life.

With a final glance at his friend, Kei made his way through the ward; shivering as the ward seemed reluctant to let him through. 

“I had a feeling that you would come after me.”

He turned to the voice and he saw that Iwaizumi was leaning against a tree with his arms folded across his chest. 

“I also have had the feeling that this is not the first time that you and I have met.”

His green eyes were staring at him with a mix of apprehension and curiosity; unsure of whether he believed what he had just uttered or he was waiting for Kei to verify it as fact.

“No, I don’t believe so.” Kei muttered as he fiddled with his fingers, “I wasn’t too sure when we initially met, there seemed to be something about you, but when I saw…”

“When you saw my scars, you remembered something.” Iwaizumi muttered under his breath; his fingers spasming defensively against his biceps.

“Yeah, something like that.” 

Iwaizumi sighed and looked at the ground; his eyes getting lost in something that seemed to be floating in front of him. Kei frowned deeply and found himself approaching the shorter male almost cautiously. From what he knew of Iwaizumi, he knew that the man was easily startled and was quick to temper, so his next few decisions had to be meticulously planned. 

“When you first came to that house, you didn’t say anything much either.”

Iwaizumi hummed absently,

“I was going through a lot back then, it was just easier for me to shut down -- it wasn’t as painful.”

Kei nodded in understanding,

“I used to do that a lot too; if it weren’t for Yamaguchi, and maybe even all of you, I would have continued to live that way.”

Iwaizumi simply hummed again and pushed himself away from the tree so that he was now standing in front of the much taller male. Kei couldn’t help but wonder what was taking Yamaguchi and the others so long to find them; it wasn’t like the two of them had wandered off too far.

“We have both lost quite a lot due to this prophecy; probably a bit more than even the others.” He muttered under his breath; his fists clenched at his sides, “But that doesn’t mean I can let that fact cloud my judgement.”

“But not thinking about it is clouding your judgement.” Kei quipped brazenly, “Forgive me for saying this Iwaizumi-san, but you  _ need _ to talk about what is bothering you; it’s causing a rift to form between not Matsukawa and Hanamaki, but with yourself as well.”

Iwaizumi opened his mouth to comment when a blast of water shot into the sky. 

Before Kei could even comprehend what was happening, Iwaizumi latched onto his forearm and pulled him into a deadsprint. A flash of heat spread across Kei’s cheeks and his heart started to beat like a thundering drum in his chest as fear started to course through his veins. A darkness started to grow fevrously in the pit of his stomach again; but this time he knew that it was different from Daishou. 

This darkness possessed hidden intent and evil so pure that it could have bathed the entire world in madness and carnage.  He could feel it gaining on their heels; he knew from the speed that it had to be some sort of ability. Acting fast, he rocked his weight to one side, surprising the raven, causing them to lose balance and fall into a row of bushes just as a shot of a dark, purple, aura-like beam grazed Kei’s left temple; he could feel the blood dripping from his forehead almost immediately. Kei looked at Iwaizumi to see that his attention was solely on the world outside the bushes.

The sound of hurried footsteps met their ears, drawing their attention to the path that they were running on previously. A figure with wavy, quaffed brown hair was standing before him. The smirk on his face would tell anyone that his man, or maybe even  _ teen _ believed that he was better than the entirety of human existence. Kei could feel a dark power rippling underneath the man’s skin; but there was something  _ different _ about it.

Kei felt as Iwaizumi’s arms tensed around him and drew him closer, almost protectively; something that he would have never expected from the stoic Earth Guardian.

“The Demon King.” He growled.

Kei blinked blankly at the name and his stomach curdled as a sneer curled his lips.

Of the enemies that they have faced so far, he knew from the name alone that this one was possibly going to be the most pretentious, self-absorbed asshole that they would ever meet.

Great.

Kei could feel the tension coursing through Iwaizumi’s body. He didn’t know who this ‘Demon King’ was, but he didn’t need his empathy, or the opponent’s stupid name to know that this man had something to do with the Earth mage’s past. The blond consciously tried to hold his breath so that the man on the other side of the bushes wouldn’t notice their presence. 

He had a feeling that if they were found, it wouldn’t turn out well for either of them. The image of the water shooting into the sky quickly crossed his mind once more; that had to be Kuroo sending some kind of signal, but if that were the case, that could only mean that the others were in more danger than he was.

And for some reason, that only seemed to terrify him even more.

Kei’s heart started to pound rapidly in his chest at the thought of someone else getting hurt because of him. As if sensing his stressful thoughts, Iwaizumi held him tighter and backed farther into the bushes; his magic latching onto the branches and shielding them from view. Kei subconsciously grabbed a hold Iwaizumi’s wrist and attempted to bury himself further into their surroundings; which might have been easier if he didn’t have blond hair.

As the Earth user continued to send his magic into the foliage, Kei felt relief wash over him as he believed that their adversary was walking way; until the so-called Demon King turned rapidly towards the bushes and seemed to look him right in the eyes. 

Chills that could be easily described as the caresses of Death rolled down his spine dangerously and a sharp pain coursed through his eye causing him to flinch. Iwaizumi watched him nervously, tension rolling off him in waves, and the blond just nodded his head slightly to indicate that he was alright.

“Come now,” The Demon King called teasingly, “I know you’re out there.”

Kei and Iwaizumi looked at each other and shrunk in on their-selves to seem smaller; which should have been quite impossible given Kei’s more than above average height. The raven continued to hold onto the taller teen and refused to lessen his grip. The fear in Iwaizumi’s eyes grew significantly as the man took a step towards the bush that they were hiding in. 

“Iwaizumi, I know you’re there,” The man smirked evilly as his voice carried as though in song, “You don’t want me to hurt the young Light do you? I would hate for that to happen, but as of right now you’re not giving me much of a choice.”

A low growl emitted from Iwaizumi’s throat as he slowly released his hold on the blond. He turned to sink out of the bushes and face off their hunter; but Kei, for some strange reason, couldn’t let that happen. As much as they did not get on, he knew that he could not let Iwaizumi face this Demon King. He latched onto Iwaizumi’s forearm even tighter and held him back.

Even if his long fingers barely managed to wrapped around his muscled arms.

“Tsukishima, you have to let go.” Iwaizumi muttered harshly.

“No.” The blond spat stubbornly, “You’re going to get yourself killed, and do you know who’s going to kill  _ me _ when that happens? Matsukawa-san AND Hanamaki-san that’s who.”

Kei tried not to scowl too much as Iwaizumi placed his warm hands over his slightly colder ones. The short statured man gazed into his golden eyes with so much strength and determination, but Kei could read behind that mask just as easily. Those green eyes also held fear, worry and guilt; and the young light knew that those fears weren’t going to be assuaged by him.

Not when those exact same feelings have been haunting Iwaizumi for as long as Kei had known him.

Not with the Demon King standing over them.

“Listen, everything is going to be okay; I won’t die.” Iwaizumi tried to smile; but it only seemed to twist his face into a grimace, “I have to protect your ass remember; it’s my reason for surviving for all these years, even when I wanted to stop moving.”

Kei’s face immediately started to burn, from anger or embarrassment he wasn’t entirely too sure; Iwaizumi Hajime was not meant to be baring his soul to him like this. It was not something that they did -- they did not have that sort of relationship.

“You don’t need to protect me you asshole; I can protect myself.” Kei spat; his heart thundering in his chest, “And don’t use me as an excuse; I am not the reason why you’ve stuck around for so long.”

He knew that the true reason why Iwaizumi Hajime still lived and breathed was because of two people that he could not bear to leave behind.

Even his empathy could tell him that much.

The raven scowled in his usual way and broke eye contact,

“You don’t know what you’re talking about Tsukishima.”

Something welled in Kei’s chest at the statement,

“No, I think I do.”

“Iwaizumi, I haven’t got all day,” The Demon King laughed maliciously, “If you’re not out in the next minute, I’ll come for you both without mercy, no matter what Lord Tokai wishes.”

Iwaizumi flinched at the threat and got up to leave once more, only to be stopped again by the hand wrapped around his arm. Kei tried to tighten his hold, reading his actions in his eyes, but there was not way that he could out-muscle Iwaizumi. Kei swallowed thickly as Iwaizumi finally managed to loosen his fingers and pulled his arm out of reach.

“I have to do this,” He stated vehemently, “This, this has to come to an end. I have to do what I can.”

“Iwaizumi, Hajime,” He found himself begging; grasping at straws and calling Iwaizumi by his first name even though he had absolutely no right to, “Please, you...”

Unexpectedly, the Earth user hesitantly leaned forward and wrapped his arms around Kei in a solid hug; almost providing him with a foundation to stand on.

Almost as though he was fulfilling his duty as the Earth Guardian. 

“Believe in me Kei, everything will end as it should.”

“Haji...”

The raven pulled back from and smiled somewhat fondly,

“I need to teach you some respect kid, never told you that you could use my given name now did I?”

Before Kei could stop him, and remind him that there was not enough of an age difference between them to be called  _ kid _ of all things, Iwaizumi turned away and walked out of the bushes. The shrubbery tangling its branches together in an effort to hide Kei in Iwaizumi’s absence. Kei clung to his presence, mixed emotions and fears coursing through his exhausted body like volts of electricity. 

Not the same emotions that he would get from Kuroo, Bokuto or Akaashi or even from his brother and Yamaguchi, but still he felt  _ something _ .

He watched as Iwaizumi exited the bushes and faced the Demon King with a steadfast glare in his eyes,

“I’m here,” He growled fearlessly, “just like you wanted.”

“Yes, I can see that,” The Demon King smiled, “Are you sure it is safe to keep the young Light unprotected?”

“He’s not unprotected,” Iwaizumi spat; his toes starting to dig into the Earth beneath his toes, “There is more than just me in this forest you bastard; he’s perfectly safe.”

“You seem very confident in those words.”

“I am,” He spat, “And you know, there was a time when someone would say something like that to me and I would have headbutted him for expressing such wholehearted nonsense with nothing to back it up.”

The dark haired man’s smirk twitched slightly as if he was fighting to keep it on his face; something akin to recognition flashing very briefly before it was rapidly smothered by a false indifference. 

Kei could feel the anger and loathing coming off the Demon King and it made his skin crawl. The intense and immeasurable darkness coming from him irked Kei almost as much as his emotions did; the power that he was concealing was very prominent. 

Silently, Kei continued to gather his light within him so he could act as back-up for the Earth using teen if it was necessary; even if he was so tired that he could pass out at any moment. 

He refused to be a liability.

Especially if the strong foundation that Iwaizumi was trying to strengthen gave out from the pressure.

Iwaizumi and the Demon King watched each other, trying to decide on who was going to attack first. 

Kei felt the tension from where he was sitting and wanted nothing more than to do something himself, but he forced himself not to. He knew that this was Iwaizumi’s fight. He knew that Iwazumi had some sort of connection with the Demon King, and he was going to damn well let him deal with it. 

As that thought crossed his mind, the very Earth had started to rumble; the ground shifting as its manipulator started to call on its power. Kei’s eyes widened as he saw the older teen move and kick out his feet causing the ground to split in order to release pillars of earth and attack the Demon King head on. He was surprised to see that Iwaizumi didn’t stop there and when he landed brought his hands up in balled fists in front of his face.

Once again he saw as more slabs sprung forth only this time they were much smaller and when Iwaizumi thrust his fists forward like a boxer, they too went hurtling towards their adversary. Kei watched with wide eyes as the rocks made contact; eyes widening at the cacophony of sound. When the dust settled, Iwaizumi straightened himself up and watched the Demon King warily. 

The dust slowly diminished and the Demon King was standing as if nothing had happened. The only sign of Iwaizumi’s attacks was the thin layer of dust that seemed to settle on the Demon King’s clothes.

“Now Iwaizumi,” He said disappointedly, “I thought that you would’ve at least improved a little since we last met, but clearly I was mistaken.”

The brown haired male raised his hands in front of him; a purple-ish aura starting to coat his hands,

“Let’s see if your reflexes have improved since our last encounter now shall we.”

Without any warning, purple bullet-like shots began to shoot out of the Demon King’s fingers; it seemed as if Iwaizumi was actually facing a barrage of Army men at one time. The raven jumped around the bullets flying at him as if he was dancing in a ritual. 

He was turning, twirling, jumping, flipping, doing anything possible to avoid being hit. 

One of the stray bullets hit a nearby tree and the trunk exploded immediately on contact. Kei instinctively threw his hands over his head to protect it from any tree remnants that may come his way.  Iwaizumi scowled and seemed to have thrust his power into his feet because suddenly, with an Earth-shattering jump, he had launched himself into the air; pillars of Earth rising to meet the soles of his feet as jumped towards the Demon King.

“Oh Iwaizumi, if you wanted to fly so badly you could’ve just let me know and I could’ve helped you with that.”

As he finished that sentence, chains of dark energy had burst from magic circles in the palms of his hands and wrapped around Iwaizumi’s ankles instantaneously stopping the Earth from responding to his movements. The chains whipped the raven around and smashed him into trees at random intervals. 

Kei himself flinched in pain when he felt the older teen connect with the rough bark or the hard ground.

Kei knew he needed to break the chain, but he couldn’t figure out how and he knew that he probably wouldn’t have a lot of time. He glanced around and saw a tree that was taller than the others close to him. As quietly as he could, he extracted himself from his hiding spot and started to climb the tree.

He forced back a hiss of pain as the rough bark tore into the palms of his hands. He climbed onto the thickest branch he could find and crouched on it like he was a vulture searching for his prey. He could feel his power itching beneath his skin once more, but as always couldn’t exactly figure out how to release it.

So far, he has only used his magic as barriers -- could he also use it to  _ attack _ ?

Using the Light that he collected in the core of his body, Kei envisioned a bow and arrow forming in his hand. Something resembling what he had seen Yamaguchi summon when they had been running from Daishou in that hospital corridor all that time ago. When the bow and arrow became tangible, he gripped them tightly in his hand and strung the bow; his hands getting used to the foreign weapon in his hands.

He had never shot an arrow in his life, but he  _ had _ to try.

He pulled the arrow back and took aim; his instinct telling him to close his right eye instead of his left. But of course, that shouldn’t have been logical considering that was his  _ blind eye _ . Why would he try and aim anything with his blind eye?

However, again he found himself listening to his instinct; something he  _ never _ would have done in the past. When he closed his right eye, a tracking target appeared where his sight in his left should have been; he knew this temporary sight would go away once the arrow was fired, but he couldn’t help but revel in the fact that he could actually see.

He let his eye zero in at the base of the chains that were connected to Iwaizumi’s ankles and took aim. It quickly became apparent that Iwaizumi was moving around too much and was making it impossible for him to aim; Kei then shifted his focus to the chains connected to the base of the Demon King’s hands; those were a much easier target. Taking a deep breath, Kei pulled back on the arrow and released it, praying that it would reach its intended mark. 

In a blink of an eye, the Light arrow embedded itself into the base of the shackles attached to the Demon King’s palms which disintegrated them. The Demon King roared in pain when the chains disappeared and left burns on his hands. Iwaizumi fell to the ground with a groan as he tried to regain his bearings.

“Well, it seems you have friends in high places.” The Demon King growled as he tried to search the treetops for the person who burnt his hands.

“It would seem that I do,” Iwaizumi growled as he pushed himself to his feet and faced the man, “And now I’m going to repay them by kicking your ass.”

The raven launched himself at the Demon King again and this time his entire body was coated in a green aura. Even as Iwaizumi flew towards him, Kei felt that Iwaizumi was going to get seriously hurt if he didn’t do something. The Light within him hummed in his veins again as if they were volts of electricity. 

The Light was telling him to shoot an arrow at the older teen because it would make him stronger, but that  _ had _ to be a mistake. 

How would shooting Iwaizumi in the back make him stronger? Something like that would kill a normal person. He was afraid to see what would happen if he did hit Iwaizumi; what if  he got hurt?

It would be all his fault and he wouldn’t be able to live with himself. 

God, if he wasn’t attached before -- he was now… what was happening to him?

He barely knew the guy, but he felt as if he would fall to pieces if anything happened; especially when considering the shared past that they had. He owed Iwaizumi for a lot because of what happened at that Foster Home and he would like to actually hear his story.

Despite his fears, the Light continued to urge him on; reluctantly, Kei closed his eyes and strung another Light Arrow. He drew the arrow back and aimed it at Iwaizumi’s body; sweat was dripping down his forehead and his arms were shaking from the strain of the arrow and fear itself. 

Kei held his breath as he released the arrow and watched with worried eyes as it embedded itself in the middle of Iwaizumi’s back.


	9. The Light's Foundation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Powers surge, truths are revealed, sacrifices are made. Will they be able to bounce back from this when they lose their foundation?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another update -- guys, it must be a blue moon or something...  
> I hope you enjoy this chapter even if the characters are extremely OOC; I really tried to keep them in character I promise!  
> I'll try to update again real soon, but we'll see how this goes!  
> Enjoy!

Kei watched as everything moved in slow motion. 

He watched as the arrow soared through the air like a majestic phoenix before slowly making its descent and embedding itself into the center of Iwaizumi Hajime’s back. Time froze briefly as the arrow disintegrated and for a moment it seemed as though everything had stood still. He watched in terror as a satisfied smirk grew on the Demon King’s face and his heart stopped as he realized that he may have just killed one of his Guardians in cold blood. He felt the air getting caught in his throat as the guilt gnawed at his heart like a hungry vulture scavenging for food in a desolate desert.

When suddenly a pulsing green aura erupted to life. 

Kei squinted his eyes to see what was going on when he realized that the same green energy from earlier that evening had surged across Iwaizumi’s skin, but he could also see volts of lightning interlaced with the raw earthbound energy in a form of a chaotic dance. The smirk that took residence on the Demon King’s face quickly disappeared when Iwaizumi’s electrified fist connected with the side of his face sending him flying into a nearby tree; Iwaizumi landing like a graceful wolf on his feet.

The Demon King shakily pushed himself to his feet; his eyes glinting dangerously as he began to clap his hands together dramatically. Iwaizumi became terrifyingly serious as the green aura sunk beneath his skin leaving behind blueprints of green vines down his limbs. The brown haired male walked towards the shorter with a masochistic glint in his eye that sent uncomfortable chills down Kei’s spine.

“Well, well,” He rubbed his hands together and cracked his fingers, “It seems you were hiding something from me,  _ Iwa-chan _ .”

Instead of answering with words, Iwaizumi brought his hands in front of his face; his fists clenched tightly as he stomped the ball of his right foot into the dirt covered ground. A blast of rock and lightning shot like a torpedo out of the earth’s crust and struck the enemy head on. Iwaizumi charged at the Demon King with as much speed as he could muster before bringing his hands together and releasing a battle cry; the earth all too eager to respond to his call.

Kei’s mouth dropped open as not only the earth itself, but the vines and roots supporting the lives of the trees also surged forth and engulfed the Demon King’s figure; completely hiding him from sight. Iwaizumi’s rage filled cry echoed throughout the forest scaring nearby animals from their homes and nearly caused the blond to fall from his branch. 

When the attack ended, the brunet was on his feet breathing heavily; exhaustion was evident on his tanned face. Kei glanced over to where the Demon King was once standing and saw that he was sprawled on the ground, unconscious; not even a muscle moved. The roots and vines that Iwaizumi had summoned entangling the fallen adversary’s limbs in a tight grip.

“Don’t,” Iwaizumi huffed angrily; his chest heaving, “Don’t you dare call me  _ that _ . You don’t have the right.”

When he was sure that the Demon King was in fact down for the count, the blond quickly climbed down from his position and made his way to the older teen. As he reached him, Iwaizumi fell backwards into Kei’s lanky body; his breathing was laboured and he looked as if he could sleep for the next couple weeks. Kei watched in brief fascination as the green vine like veins snaked their way from Iwaizumi’s cheeks and limbs and took residence inside his body once more.

Kei frowned to himself in confusion.

_ What exactly was that _ ? 

Before he could even begin to understand what he had just witnessed, the taller teen’s legs collapsed from the added weight of Iwaizumi’s pure muscle mass and the absence of the fear induced adrenaline to keep him standing. He rested on the ground with Iwaizumi all but sprawled across his lap. He could hear Kuroo and Bokuto cackling at him, or even worse, insisting they enforce more food into him as  _ ‘This wouldn’t happen to you if you ate like a normal human being Tsukki _ ’. 

What’s worse, is that Yamaguchi and Akiteru would be strong advocates of him eating more.

The traitors.

“Iwaizumi-san,” He muttered, “I know you’re tired and all, but you’re not exactly light.”

The corners of the Earth user’s lips twitched in response,

“Stop your whining Tsukishima; just give a moment -- you’re not  _ that weak _ are you?”

Once again, Kei felt his eyebrow twitch in annoyance. How is it, that even with minimal interactions, Iwaizumi Hajime knew exactly what to say to annoy him. He sighed as the tiredness that he was feeling before began to creep up on him, but with the Earth user being next to useless at the moment, he needed to be awake in case anything happened. 

Kei frowned as he heaved Iwaizumi off of him so that he could struggle to his own feet. The blond placed his hands on his hips and took a few deep breaths to try and steady his semi-swimming vision. Kei was about to succumb to his fate and lift the slightly shorter teen onto his back when a loud, brazen laugh silenced his movements. 

Mechanically he moved his gaze from the exhausted brunet, to meet the burning gaze of the Demon King. Despite the fact that he was nearly shrouded in vines and roots, the self-proclaimed King seemed to be quite comfortable in his bonds. There was not a sense of defeat in the man’s visage -- in fact, it seemed as though he was just getting started.

“Ah, there he is,” The man trilled jovially, “The Light of the World; Lord Tokai would be so pleased if I brought you to him.”

Shakes moved through Kei’s body paralysing him as though Iwaizumi’s earth magic was still in force; his eyes were wide in complete disbelief and fear. 

_ How? _

_ How was this possible? _

_ He...there is no possible way that this man could be moving… _

_ Not after an attack like that. It just wasn’t logical. _

Subconsciously, he pulled Iwaizumi into his arms protectively as the bonds keeping the Demon King imprisoned began to fracture and crumble like a draught-ridden landscape. His heart was beating so loud that he could hear it in his ears and his breathing had become laboured as panic slowly began to consume him, cell by cell. It felt as though walls were closing in on him. On the both of them.

He felt as though he couldn’t move an inch as the Demon King rose to his feet. Sweeping the dirt of his billowing cloak and fluffing his brown hair out of his steady, yet piercing chocolate brown eyes. In a small part of his mind, he couldn’t help but notice that those eyes looked as though they had seen love once.

He couldn’t help but notice that while the Demon King’s eyes were dark and empty...he could still somehow sense signs of  _ light _ .

Light that was somehow reaching out to him.

Iwaizumi stirred in his arms and a forest green eye slowly cracked open. He growled low in his throat when he saw the deranged male stalking towards them. He slowly pushed himself up and must have noticed the pure fear that was dancing in the blond’s eyes. Iwaizumi struggled to lift himself to stand on his own two feet, when the Demon King’s condescending tenor froze him in his movement; pure terror sweeping through his veins,

“ _ Iwa-chan _ , you’re out of magic. There is nothing you can possibly do to protect this bastard child any longer; hand him over and you may be able to return to  _ Mattsun  _ and  _ Makki _ safe and sound.”

Kei frowned at the demon’s words and almost as if in a trance, pushed himself shakily to a full upright position. The Demon King raised an eyebrow in curiosity as the blond started to walk forward. He knew without the brunet answering that he would not be given up; but the brunet needed to live. He had people  _ waiting for him _ , and the younger teen was going to make sure it was possible that he returned back to them. 

Even if it meant that it would be putting himself in the hands of his enemies.

He was done with others getting hurt because of him.

He was about to take another step forward when a warm, somehow comforting, yet calloused hand gripped onto his own as tightly as it could manage. Kei tried to wrench his hand from the tight grip, but the Earth user refused to falter.

“Let me go Iwaizumi-san.”

“Like hell,” Iwaizumi growled ferociously as he struggled to his own feet, “I am not letting you throw everything away for my sake; I can handle this Trashy King on my own, find the others and get out of here.”

“Are you an idiot?” Kei hissed dangerously, “Don’t throw away your life for something as foolish as your pride; it’s’ not worth it if you have to leave others behind to mourn you.”

“Pride,” Iwaizumi straightened as much as he was able; a flame reignited in his eyes as he grabbed onto Kei’s wrist tightly, “You honestly think this is about  _ pride _ ?! Who’s the idiot? This is about the entire world--”

“I refuse.” The blond cut him off, “I  _ refuse _ to let someone else lose their life for mine. So sit back down and let me do what needs to be done.”

The brunet opened his mouth to retort, but was silenced by the malicious laughter coming from the demon in front of them. Kei’s entire body was shaking and he was trying with all his will to push the tears of frustration that had gathered in his eyes back below the surface. He futilely tried to get his hand out of Iwaizumi’s grip, but he was too exhausted to actually have any effect on the older male. 

The Demon King stopped his laughter as he realised that he had their full attention; the pure darkness emanating from the man seemed to continuously expand as he stood there. However, something still  _ itched _ at Kei.

He felt as though he was missing something important.

“Why don’t you listen to what the young Light says  _ Iwa-chan _ ?” The Demon King taunted, “He seems like he knows what he wants, don’t you think?”

Kei subconsciously flinched when Iwaizumi’s growl erupted from behind him,

“Forget it you Shitty King; it’s not about to happen.”

The Demon King sighed exaggeratedly before placing his hand over his forehead,

“I didn’t want to resort to this, but it seems that I don’t have much of a choice. Whatever happens next is on your shoulders  _ Iwa-chan _ .”

Kei could almost tangibly see the dark aura that was pulsing around the dark user in front of him. Pain threaded through his eye as the darkness continued to expand at an exponential rate. The sky became overcast and the clouds quickly darkened and thickened in the blink of an eye. A harsh cold wind was now whipping through the forest causing Kei to hold onto the brunet as tightly as he could. He watched in fear as The Demon King opened his arms wide creating a vacuum; intense, excruciating pain exploded through his eye immediately sending him to his knees. 

“Shit,” He hissed as he bowed towards the ground; his forehead almost touching the dirt covered floor.

Iwaizumi dropped to his side as he went down and wrapped his arms around the overwhelmed blond. Kei flinched as a moist substance escaped from underneath his left eyelid and over his fingers. He was no doctor, but Kei was willing to bet that it was blood pouring out of his blind, golden eye as if they were tears; the pain was unbearable. 

Iwaizumi shakily used the pad of his thumb to help wipe most of the blood from Kei’s face when an explosion of darkness engulfed the area. The teens tensed as mysterious dark beings sprouted from the ground like weeds. 

“Witness the power of the Demon’s Eye.”

Kei shifted his gaze from the beings to the figure of the Demon King who resided in a mask of darkness. The man looked windswept with his hair blown back the way he was, but there was no denying the pure hatred and mania that smoothed across his visage. Kei couldn’t draw his gaze away from the Demon King; whose own left eye had taken on a blood red aura.

“Iwaizumi…” Kei sucked in a deep breath as he braced himself for the shorter male’s inevitable outburst, “how do you know him.”

The earth user tensed beside him,

“What?”

“How,” The blond grimaced as more pain threaded through his eye, “ _ How do you know the Demon King _ ?”

Kei fought back a flinch as Iwaizumi’s grip unconsciously tightened around his wrist,

“I...He’s…”

“Hajime.” He scowled at the older male, “Tell me. I sense something about him. I think I…”

The Light within him churned in his stomach anxiously as the beings continued to approach both him and Iwaizumi. He felt the earth user’s arms wrapping tightly around him; attempting to soothe him in anyway that he was able. As the darkness pressed on them, Kei knew that they would die if something didn’t happen quickly. 

He knew that Iwaizumi held the answers that they needed...if only he would just tell him. But as heartless as he pretended to be, Kei knew how difficult it was. How difficult it was to open up and ask for help. How difficult it was to accept that someone they had once cared about could betray them.

_ Iwa-chan _ .

_ Mattsun. _

_ Makki _ .

Since Iwaizumi had unleashed all of his magical ability on the Demon King, Kei has been able to sense a building light. The Demon King  _ recognised  _ Iwaizumi. Recognised Matsukawa and Hanamaki. There was a light within the Demon King, and it would be Iwaizumi, Matsukawa and Hanamaki who would be able to completely bring it out.

_ He knew it _ .

Sometimes, you just needed someone to bring out the light in you...or even a group of people.

A brief warmth started to build in his chest; flashes of silver hair, gunmetal blue eyes, and a sly smirk chasing away the tendrils of cold that the dark beings seemed to bring. Akiteru and Yamaguchi were the ones to cultivate the light within him, but it was those three that helped to set his Light free...

As if reacting to his thoughts and his fears, the Light within him began to build. 

The chill that claimed his body slowly started to recede and a bright warmth engulfed his being. He could feel the power seeping through his skin and he was pretty sure that it could be seen as well. 

The light expanded until he could feel it lingering all around them like a cloak. He could feel the darkness’ disdain and pain from the invading warmth that dared to overtake its territory. He could faintly hear Iwaizumi’s voice talking to him, but he was too far away now to hear; all that was on his mind was ‘protect’ and he damn well was going to do it.

He was an asshole.

He was stubborn.

But he would be the one to ignite that Light within the Demon King.

But it would be up to Iwaizumi to help it  _ grow _ .

XxXxXxXxXx

_ Shit…shit…shit…shit. _

Was the only thing going through Iwaizumi Hajime’s mind as he watched as the dark beings the Demon King created started to expand. Even though he wasn’t as sensitive to the Darkness as Tsukishima was, he could tangibly feel the pull of the Darkness that the bastard standing before him had unleashed. He tightened his arms around the younger blond’s shaking form and kept an eye on him from the corner of his eye. 

The golden eye was still crying blood and the muscles around it were twitching painfully. Hajime scanned the damaged treeline for any sign of the other guardians, but so far they were out of luck. He turned his attention back to what was happening in front of him, only to feel his mouth dropping open in shock. 

Tsukishima’s body was engulfed with light; he shone almost as bright as the sun. His power was radiating off his skin in uncontrollable waves and the Light was surrounding the Darkness that was encroaching them. The blond’s body was quivering in his arms and his breath was coming out in shallow pants; he was clearly overworking his body and if this kept up…

“Tsukishima, you have to stop.” He ordered tersely.

Instead of the light extinguishing, it started to glow even brighter; expanding to the corners of the forest. Hajime looked to the other side of the clearing and found the Demon King on his knees, clutching his head as if it were about to split open at any given moment. Hajime watched dumbfounded as the purple, red veined beings crumbled to dust; as though they had never existed to begin with. As the dark beings crumbled, Hajime began to feel his power replenishing once more; it was like he had never fought against the Demon King in the first place.

When he determined that the demon wouldn’t be a problem for the time being, the brunet turned his attention back to the blond. His pale skin could no longer be seen through the golden aura; Tsukishima could be equated to a human star at this point. The one thing he could definitely make out were the dark red tears of blood that continued to flow down his cheek. His body was almost convulsing in his touch now and Hajime was starting to panic; panicking was something he had never experienced.

“Stop it,” Hajime placed his hands on Tsukishima’s cheeks in attempt to gain his attention, “You have to stop it; you’re going to hurt yourself.”

The blond mumbled something incoherently, which in turn caused the light to expand even more. Behind him, Hajime heard a guttural cry of pain escape the Demon King’s lips and felt another shot of power course through his veins. 

Hajime pressed his forehead against Tsukishima’s to try and establish some sort of empathetic connection and ran his hands through the teen’s hair to soothe him.

“Listen to me you stubborn idiot, you need to quit doing this. We’re safe now.”

“Save…”

Hajime resisted the urge to curl his fingers in victory,

“Yes we’re safe.”

“Save him…”

Hajime’s hands froze,

“W-What did you say?”

“The Demon King,” Tsukishima muttered monotonously, “Save him…”

“No,” Hajime whispered and closed his eyes as the rips in his soul seemed to burn in agony, “You’ve wrong, he can’t be...”

“Save him...” Tsukishima spoke over him, “Reignite his Light...Iwa…”

As one side cried blood, the other cried to pure tears. 

Hajime could feel parts of himself breaking with each word that Tsukishima uttered.

But he couldn’t ignore it.

He had seen it.

He had heard it.

_ “Iwa...Iwa-chan…” _

A sob unwillingly tore from Hajime’s throat as he slowly turned towards the Demon King who was on his knees with his head bowed towards the ground; almost as though a mirror to Tsukishima himself.

_ “I-Iwa-chan...I…” _

He had tried to ignore it.

He hadn’t wanted to believe it.

The Demon King.

The Demon King  _ was  _ Oikawa Tooru.

“Hajime,” Tsukishima muttered monotonously, “You need to ignite the…”

Tsukishima seemed to choke on his words as his body started to convulse in Hajime’s arms; eyes rolling back and mouth going slack as foam started to gather at the corners of the blond’s mouth. Hajime cursed loudly as the light that shrouded the area immediately dissipated as the blond fell backwards; the earth user catching most of the boy’s weight and lowering him to the ground.

At that same moment, an even heavier Darkness seemed to press down on the destroyed clearing. Hajime watched with terrified eyes as a heavy blanket of black smog settled over the whimpering form of The Demon King; almost hiding him from view.

“No,” Hajime whispered; his green eyes widened in absolute shock, “No, not again…”

His gaze shot between the seizing Tsukishima and the quickly disappearing Demon King...Oikawa Tooru. Hajime roared as he slammed his hands down onto the earth; feeling for the threads of life that resided underneath the earth’s surface. He tangled the threads through his fingers and pulled as hard as he possibly could.

_ He had to save him this time. _

He would not fail.

He could feel his magic burning in his veins; the familiar green tendrils snaking up his arms and up his face. He would not let Tokai take him again. Not again.

He turned his gaze to Tsukishima briefly and noticed that he had settled -- though his pallid skin and shallow breaths told him that he was far from safe.

_ “Save him...Reignite his Light…” _

He would be Oikawa Tooru’s Light again. Even if it killed him.

With a guttural cry pulled on earth’s very essence and called it to his hands. A secure, impenetrable dome encasing Tsukishima before he struggled to his feet and used all the strength he possibly could to run towards the body of his best friend. His soulmate. He had thrown every last drop of his magic into that dome protecting Tsukishima.

Even with Tokai being as powerful as he is, there was no way he was breaking through to get to what he really wanted. Hajime was the Foundation. Therefore his magic would keep Tsukishima protected until the other guardians came to support him and raise him up.

And despite everything he knew that Tsukishima was strong enough to wait for them.

He dove on top of Oikawa as the darkness started to pull them both away; the shadows taking away his senses one by one. His sight. His hearing. His sense of smell. And finally his sense of touch. He could no longer feel the Earth grounding his being. He could no longer feel Oikawa in his arms.

But he could feel his Light.

And, even if it was only barely, he could feel Tooru’s.

And he knew that within moments he would come face to face with Evil himself.

He hoped that Mattsun and Makki would forgive him for this.

After all, how could he be a Guardian, if he couldn’t even protect Him?


	10. Tensions Rise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Akiteru realises that the Guardians might not be as together as he once thought, despite the fact that they are all together for once.  
> But with Matsukawa and Hanamaki keeping secrets, is everything truly as it seems?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is a new chapter minna ~  
> I hope you all enjoy it and I apologise ahead of time for any OOC-ness that occurs throughout the chapter! I tried my best with it!  
> Maybe I'll revisit this chapter later to edit it a bit, but who actually knows LOL  
> Hoping for more BokuAkaKuroTsuki and other things of that nature in the next chapter -- I miss my boys giving each other love!

Akiteru huffed through his nose as he watched his younger brother’s tall, yet slim frame slipped through the wards surrounding their current safe haven. Every fibre of his being was urging him to follow Kei out, but this time he wasn’t going to listen to it. He had to trust that Kei could handle himself; it wouldn’t do either of them any good if Akiteru decided to doubt the slightly taller blond now. 

If anything Kei would’ve just gone after Iwaizumi regardless and probably would’ve ended up in more trouble than he could handle. 

Because Akiteru’s life was just like that.

The older blond repressed another sigh as he ran his fingers through his hair in exasperation. A soft chuckle reached his ears prompting to himself to slide his gaze towards the shorter male standing at his side; a knowing smile on his lips.

“Try not to stress yourself out too much Aki-nii,” Tadashi nudged the corner of his freckled nose with his thumb with a teasing grin, “Tsukki can handle at least this much without getting into too much trouble.”

There must have been something in Akiteru’s gaze because Tadashi simply rolled his eyes before knocking his elbow against the older man,

“Come on Akiteru, let’s head inside with the others; Tsukki and Iwaizumi-san will be alright for a few moments at least.”

Akiteru chewed the inside of his cheek for a moment before nodding his head in agreeance. He turned on his heel and made his way towards the cottage. He noticed that the sun was finally beginning to lower in the sky; slipping behind the shingles of the building as it’s final rays of light tried to latch onto the horizon for just a little bit longer. 

If he looked closely enough, he could still see patches of blue, but even then they were slowly giving way to the oranges and pinks of dusk -- eventually bleeding into the purplish hue of sunset. He made a note to himself to go back out into the forest if Tsukki and Iwaizumi were not back by the time the sun went down. Hell, Matsukawa and Hanamaki would probably join him in his hunt by that point. 

Even if things seemed tense between the three of them earlier.

As Akiteru got closer to the door, he could hear the sound of raised voices coming through the wooden frame. He raised an eyebrow at Tadashi who shared a similar expression; this prompted him to reach towards the door and push it open....only to almost be blown off his feet with the sound that descended upon him. 

Akiteru watched with wide eyes as he he took in the chaos that had erupted around the guardians in his short absence. Bokuto and Hinata were jumping around the room and screaming at the top of their lungs; limbs flailing in almost every direction that they went. Elsewhere in the room, Kuroo seemed to be in some sort of stand-off with Matsukawa and Hanamaki; not much seemed to be said between the three, but at the moment it was as though the three of them wouldn’t hesitate to jump at each other’s throats.

On the other side of the room, removed from the chaos that was Bokuto and Hinata and the awkward tension between Kuroo and the Aoba Jousai mages, Akaashi was watching on with a blank expression on his face. However, if one were to look closely he could see an underlying tension or uneasiness in his shoulders as Kageyama all but hovered over his shoulder and stared at him with an intense blue eyed gaze while muttering under his breath.

“What the…” Tadashi trailed off uneasily, “What’s going on here Aki-nii?”

Akiteru couldn’t help but tilt his head to the side; almost as if tilting his head would somehow make all of these scenarios make some sort of sense.

“Uhm, what exactly is going on here?”

Finally seeming notice their arrival, the guardians in the room stopped talking and moving -- well except for Bokuto and Hinata, but really something told Akiteru that it would be a cold day in hell before either of those two sat down and sat still for longer than ten minutes at a time. Akiteru still found himself pleasantly surprised when Bokuto sat in one place for an entire train ride. Although, a lot of that was probably due to the presence of Akaashi and Kuroo.

And with those two as distracted as they seemed to be right now, it only made sense that Bokuto was running around unchecked. 

Not that the silver-haired teen needed a babysitter or anything like that…

At least, Akiteru  _ thought _ he didn’t. 

Or, well, believed.

Maybe, the right word was prayed?

“Ah, Tsukishima-san,” Akaashi nodded at him in acknowledgement, “Tsukishima-kun went after Iwaizumi-san I presume?”

“Yeah,” Akiteru shrugged his shoulders, “I figured I’d give them a few minutes or so and then we’d go get them; what have we been missing here?”

Silence permeated his question for a moment before the harsh sound of someone clicking their tongue broke it. 

“I’ve just been asking Matsukawa and Hanamaki what Iwa’s problem’s been lately. They don’t seem all too keen to answer though.” Kuroo rolled his feline-like eyes as he placed his hands on his hips.

Matsukawa rolled his own eyes as he mirrored the raven haired water elemental’s stance,

“Maybe that’s because it’s none of your business; curiosity killed the cat Kuroo, so stop while you’re ahead.”

“Hey, hey, hey!” Bokuto called out from where he stood with Hinata near the sofa; jumping from foot to foot as he tried to contain his energy, “No need to be so harsh there ‘kawa; we’re all friends here.”

The tall brunet scoffed as he glanced away from both Kuroo and Bokuto; his lazy eyes falling on Hanamaki. Akiteru’s eyebrows furrowed as his gaze jumped between all of their tense figures; this did not bode well for their little coalition. They had only just all gotten together, and already they were fighting amongst each other.

Perfect.

“Matsukawa-san, we’re not trying to pry into your past and make you spill all of your secrets.” Akaashi spoke up from his spot across the room; his posture open as his gunmetal blue eyes stared the taller man down.

Matsukawa scowled,

“Stay out of my brain Akaashi.”

“You’re the one broadcasting it,” The brunet returned without hesitation, “You’re practically shouting it at me -- I can’t ignore it now; at least, not anymore.”

Something seemed to pass across Matsukawa’s eyes before his defensive shoulders started to relax. Akiteru glanced over to Hanamaki and saw that the pink haired man had his hands clenched into tight fists and a troubled frown had taken over his lips. 

“Listen, Tsukki is with Iwa right now,” Kuroo muttered to the Aoba Jousai mages, “And if Iwa is too unstable…”

“Don’t even go there Kuroo Tetsurou.” Hanamaki hissed dangerously; his bright eyes flashing, “Iwa would never place any of us at risk. We  _ promised _ that no matter what, we would see this through to the end regardless of the pain that we felt. We owe Him that much.”

Once again an awkward silence seemed to descend upon them. Hanamaki’s burning gaze attempting to burn a hole into the Cat of Nekoma. Matsukawa himself had gone completely still; his face pale as he closed his eyes and swallowed deeply. His fingers seemed to twitch before reaching out to lace his fingers through Hanamaki’s in what appeared to be a calming gesture. He opened his mouth as though attempting to say something when another voice spoke over him; immediately silencing him once more.

“You mean Oikawa-san.”

Akiteru turned to face Kageyama who had moved from his position beside Akaashi and was approaching the Aoba Jousai mages in the main room. 

“Oikawa-san?” Hinata chirped from the sofa; swinging his legs back and forth absently, “OH, you mean the Grand King? Man, Daichi-san and Suga-san say he was one of the most powerful mages in Miyagi -- even more powerful than you, right Kageyama?”

Akiteru frowned sympathetically as Matsukawa and Hanamaki flinched in response to Hinata’s purely innocent statement. 

“He wasn’t going to be better than me forever, boke!” Kageyama yelled at the ginger in annoyance, “I would have surpassed him one day, but…”

“But Tokai got to Aoba Jousai first.” Matsukawa spat harshly.

The blond mirage mage grimaced and glanced away from the clearly grieving mages; the wounds they felt from Tokai fresh and burning. Now Akiteru didn’t know the full story of what happened at Aoba Jousai that day -- the day when one of the mighty pillars of the Magic world was dealt a nearly deadly blow. 

He knew that the guild had lost a Master that day.

And he knew that the guild had lost one of their most promising mages; Oikawa Tooru. 

In fact, that attack had almost cost the Light to lose everything.

Matsukawa and Iwaizumi also almost died that day; so did Hanamaki. 

That would have been two guardians dead in one-fell swoop.

That would have been the end of any hope they had to defeat Tokai.

As though in response to just being hinted at, the ward that was set up around the cottage seemed to fall like a poorly hung curtain. Akiteru cursed under his breath as he watched as Akaashi closed his eyes; his face twisting as an undoubtedly dark presence washed over him. 

“They’re here.”

XxXxXxXx

Akiteru’s heart was pounding in his chest as he fought to gain a steady breath. He felt his magic coat his hands as he turned to face the dark presence approaching him from behind only for a geyser of water to skyrocket the rogue grigame into the ominous, indigo sky. Out of the corner of he found Kuroo standing nearby with his hands out in front of him; the raven huffing through his nose in relief as he smirked at the taller blond and offered a two fingered salute before turning on his heel and aiming towards another congregation of grigames gathering around the opening in the broken wards.

Bokuto and Akaashi were right on his heels as the trees became hidden by the ongoing mass of dark creatures. He watched as Bokuto unleashed his fire magic like a swirling tornado as Akaashi simultaneously informed the duo where to attack and used his own levitation magic as a buffer against their enemy. God, he couldn’t even imagine how those three or the other guardians managed to do things like this.

Akiteru huffed exhaustedly under his breath and cast his power at the three males; immediately causing almost perfect copies of the trio to appear behind them and run in the opposite direction. There wasn’t a day that Akiteru didn’t wish that he was one of Kei’s guardians; that he didn’t wish that he was one of the mages contracted to help his brother survive this war. But it was moments like these that he realised that his magic was actually pretty damn awesome.

Akiteru glanced around to see how everyone else was faring; to see if anyone else needed his help with holding off the horde. He watched as Matsukawa and Hanamaki worked as cohesively as one unit. With the way that the two of them moved, it was hard to understand where one started and the other began. Of course, that could have been attributed to the complicated footwork of their fighting styles mixed in with Hanamaki’s teleportation magic. They were both an extension of each other; one body and one mind.

There was no doubt that they were two of Aoba Jousai’s best mages.

Akiteru’s mocha eyes then traveled to the newly arrived duo of Kageyama and Hinata who had somehow drifted towards Tadashi. The brunet himself looked like he was run over by millions of cars. His clothes were tattered and every inch of her skin was covered in mud and other parts of the forest. Despite this, a fire was burning in the freckled males eyes as he drew on his bow and aimed into the crowd of monsters.

Under normal circumstances he would have worried about the younger boy, but with Kageyama and Hinata next to him he had nothing to worry about. Between Kageyama using his gravity to weigh the monsters down or sending them flying through the air along with Hinata’s wind magic sweeping out the remainders, Akiteru knew that Tadashi’s back was more than covered.

Regardless of this, there did not seem to be an end to the Grigames.

It was as if with each one they took down, another would sprout up in its place.

“Ugh, how many more of these things are there?!” Matsukawa grunted as he skewered multiple grigames with his sword, “I feel like we’ve been doing this for ages.”

“I was just thinking along the same lines,” Akiteru scowled as he waved his hands towards Tadashi to create a few copies of him, “We have places to be; we can’t linger on this for much longer.”

The blond’s fist was clenching and unclenching as tension wracked his body. His brother and Iwaizumi were still out there with god knows what after them. Even from where he was standing, he could tell that despite his flamboyant behaviour Hanamaki also looked tense; no doubt thinking about a certain earth mage. 

After spending so much time with the trio from Aoba Jousai, he knew that there was something between them that many probably wouldn’t be able to quite understand. That’s how he knew that even though both Matsukawa and Hanamaki knew that Iwaizumi could handle himself, they still worried about him.

Hell, Akiteru would probably even trust Iwaizumi with his own life with all the power and drive that he had, but when they didn’t know who they were facing…

Well that changed things.

“We know one thing at least,” Kuroo called from the other side of the clearing as he drew up a wall of water to stop five grigames in in their tracks, “If it was that snake-faced coward behind this, we would’ve seen him by now.”

Kageyama clicked his tongue derisively as he launched his own attack,

“Are you absolutely sure about that Kuroo-san? We can’t afford to make any mistakes.”

“For sure,” The raven narrowed his eyes at the younger male over his shoulder, “I know Daishou and there’s nothing he does better than grandstanding and making a statement.”

An uncomfortable chill travelled up Akiteru’s spine as he took in the harsh, yet knowing tone. He’s known Kuroo for many years now, and despite everything, he was usually one of the few who stayed calm and kept smiling -- no matter how sly or condescending that smile could turn out to be. But in that moment, Akiteru saw glimpses of pain and annoyance in his quick glances.

“Okay, if it’s not Snakey doing this,” Bokuto’s eyebrows furrowed as he unleashed a fireball at a few more attacking grigames; turning them into dust, “Then who is it?”

“I don’t think that matters Bokuto-san,” Akaashi stated monotonously, “Regardless of who it is, we need to stop these creatures completely if we want to have any hope in assisting Iwaizumi-san and Tsukishima-kun.”

“What are you trying to say Akaashi?” Matsukawa transformed his broadsword into a metal spear before tossing it like a javelin into a batch of nearby grigames.

“Think about it,” Tadashi spoke up grimly; his pale face nearly ashen, “Six of the seven Guardians are here, while Iwaizumi-san and Tsukki are all alone in the middle of a secluded forest; what do you think their chances of survival and escape are?”

Akiteru swallowed thickly as the truth was finally spoken into the open air. There was no skirting around it now. The remaining six guardians froze as they let Tadashi’s words sink in; their emotions ranged from pissed to concerned. Pissed because they had been played by the enemy like fiddles in a symphony, and concerned because there was a threat of their darkest fears becoming reality. 

Everything that they’ve been fighting for could be lost.

Iwaizumi could die.

_ Kei  _ could die.

And Akiteru knew that if that happened, he would never truly recover.

Suddenly, an explosion pulled them from their thoughts, forcing them all to look to the west. Smoke was rising into the air like a beacon that clearly screamed another battle was underway. Akiteru knew without a doubt that that explosion came from either Iwaizumi and Kei or the enemy that was after them.

“Sugoi,” Hinata’s voice screeched through the imposed silence, “That seemed powerful. Bakageyama, did that seem powerful to you?”

“Hinata, boke!” Kageyama kicked out at the ginger; narrowly missing his hip, “Now’s not the time to be amazed by the enemy!”

“Kageyama’s right, we do not have time for this shit!” Hanamaki shouted impatiently; a large peach coloured magical circle sprouting from beneath his feet and encompassing all six of the guardians, Akaashi, Tadashi and Akiteru himself, “We’re getting out of here.”

“Are you sure that’s wise Hanamaki-san?” Akaashi glanced at the pinket out of the corner of his eye, “With the grigames still within the confines of your magic circle the chances that…”

 

“I’m aware of the limitations of my own magic,” Hanamaki hissed as his spell continued to build, “But we don’t have a choice.”

Akiteru flinched away sympathetically from the furious pink haired teen as he took note of the grigame pushing in on them once more. He understood where Hanamaki was coming from, but could they really risk bringing the horde with them when they teleported?

“Makki, focus; we’ll handle the rest.”

Matsukawa tossed his head slightly so that his long brown hair wasn’t hanging in his line of sight; his heavy set eyebrows furrowed as he thought deeply. His brown eyes narrowed as he released the control he had over his gauntlets which in turn forced them to lose their sword-like form. 

“Oi Tsukishima-san, I need you to duplicate these for me.”

Akiteru felt his own eyebrows furrow in confusion,

“Why? What good would that do?”

The tall male stared at him blankly,

“Just do as I say; I know what I’m doing.”

The blond studied him for a moment; chewing on the corner of his lip as he thought,

“How many duplications do you need?”

His blank look quickly transformed into a determined smirk,

“As many as you can possibly handle -- everyone else, try and push those grigames back as far as you can.” 

“And what do you think we’ve been trying to do?” Kuroo hissed in annoyance, “Invite them to a volleyball match?”

A tidal wave erupted from his hands and washed over the Grigames immediately sending them to their death or behind the remnants of the destroyed wards. The burning smell of ash quickly saturating the air as Bokuto followed through with an attack of his own. Akiteru watched entranced as elemental and support magic simultaneously swallowed the clearing once more; the desperation of the Guardians leaving no room for the grigames to advance.

Akiteru immediately locked eyes with the metal mage and they nodded to each other when brown mixed with brown. The blond summoned his silvery magic as the others kept the Grigames busy. When Matsukawa noticed that Akiteru was ready to fulfill his end of the plan, the brunet tossed his gauntlets as high as he could into the air.

“Everyone get down!” Matsukawa ordered, “Tsukishima-san, NOW.”

A large, silver magic circle appeared on the surface of the gauntlets and engulfed the metal objects before they started duplicating without an end. Akiteru felt sweat moistening his brow as he envisioned as many as 5000 gauntlets in his mind. It wasn’t long until all 5000 gauntlets started rocketing towards the ground as the Earth’s natural gravity brought them back down.

However, before they could get too far in their descent Matsukawa through his own hands out; a dark grey aura coating his limbs as he stretched his fingers towards the falling gauntlets effectively freezing them in their fall. Within moments, the gauntlets started to shudder and shake before all of them transforming into over 5000 swords, spears, and other weapons. Akiteru couldn’t help but stare wide eyed at the almost strange phenomena.

The Grigames even seemed to watch with a strange interest before cowering in fear as they too realised what exactly was coming for them. 

“Kageyama, Akaashi, hold those grigames in place.” Matsukawa huffed as he finished transforming his numerous weapons, “Kuroo, Bokuto and Hinata be prepared to make a temporary barrier between the remainders and us; Hanamaki get ready to teleport.”

For the first time in what seemed like ages, Hanamaki had a teasing smile tugging on his lips:

“Look at you being all strategic and proactive Mattsun; Iwa would be so proud of you.”

Matsukawa pouted,

“Oh shut up Makki; you wound me.”

Akiteru sighed, and had to resist the urge to face-palm because of their antics. He watched as Matsukawa swung his arms out and in turn commanded the 5000 weapons that they had both created to begin their onslaught. With a battle cry that could rival Hinata’s loudest shout, the metal mage unleashed his magic and killed the majority of the Grigames that remained in the clearing. As the skewered grigame bodies fell to the forest floor like fallen leaves, a wall of water, wind, and flame sprouted up around them.

The Guardians, Akiteru, Kageyama, Akaashi and Tadashi moved as close as they could towards Hanamaki who was now able to shrink his teleportation circle so that it only encompassed those that they wanted to take on the trip with them. Matsukawa slumped against Hanamaki exhaustedly; his eyes half-lidded as sleep seemed to tug on his consciousness. Akiteru reached out to the tall brunet and clasped his shoulder appreciatively,

“Good thinking Matsukawa -- we owe you one.”

The metal mage scoffed,

“We’re not out of the woods yet; Hanamaki get us out of here.”

The pink haired mage seemed to press his nose against Matsukawa’s jawline,

“You got it.”

Akiteru had to squint his eyes as as the dirt started to kick up around them; he was faintly aware of the others doing the same as a bright peach light succeeded in swallowing up the remainder of his vision. He felt his stomach clench as though something hooked into it and pulled him along like a fish on a lure. In moments, the earth was pulled out from underneath him and he couldn’t even begin to guess where he was or where he was going. 

However, as quick as it started it was over and he found himself on solid ground once more.

As he opened his eyes, the world swam around him; but he was able to recognise the copse of trees surrounding them. If he was willing to guess, he had to say that they weren’t too far from where the cottage was situated. But they were far enough away that any remaining grigame would not be on their tails. 

Akiteru had to fight the urge to fall backwards or sit down because he knew if he tried to rest, there was no way that he was going to get back up again. His mocha gaze focused on the other guardians and mages and noticed that they were all in the same position. They all seemed to be lying against one another to ensure that they would all keep standing. 

Those grigames took way too much out of them.

“Where did you take us Hanamaki-san?” Tadashi asked as he pushed his sweat soaked hair out of his eyes.

The pinket in question pinched the bridge of his nose,

“I took us to where I could sense Iwa the strongest, but…”

Kageyama pursed his lips,

“But what Hanamaki-san?”

“His presence has gotten weaker,” Matsukawa ground out bitterly, “It was so loud, but it’s so quiet now that we can barely get a read on him. Damnit.”

Akiteru frowned in confusion,

“Why would you try to hone in on Iwaizumi; wouldn’t it have been easier to focus in on Kei’s energy? You’re tied directly to him after all.”

An awkward silence descended upon them causing unease to spread through Akiteru like an illness,

“Matsukawa, you are still tied to Kei aren’t you?”

Matsukawa turned his gaze on the older man and sighed,

“It’s complicated.”

Akiteru’s eyes narrowed dangerously,

“What’s complicated about it? Did something happen to my younger brother while we were stuck fighting those monsters back there?”

Hanamaki raised his hands placatingly,

“Tsukishima…”

Akiteru opened his mouth to argue when a surge of power engulfed them; a familiar warmth descending on his bones. The blond glanced down at his hands and flexed his fingers as he felt all the power he expended at the cottage starting to grow within him once more; replenishing at an almost rapid pace.

“What was that?” Hinata asked out loud with wide eyes, “I feel like I could fight another million of those monsters now!”

Kageyama nodded his head in response to his partner and his blue eyes narrowed in thought as he subconsciously called his magic to finger tips. His sharp eyes seemed to drift to somewhere in the distance; Akiteru quickly shifting his stance to follow his gaze. Dark smog was hanging around and it sent a sharp chill down his spine. A soft wind billowed towards them, and he noticed as Matsukawa, Hanamaki and Kageyama tensed from where they stood.

“No way…” Hanamaki muttered, “This...this shouldn’t be possible.”

Matsukawa nodded numbly and his eyes widened when a golden light shot high into the sky and blanketed over the forest like a healing shroud.

“Shit…”

“Kei...he’s losing control.” Akiteru could feel as the colour started to drain from his face; recognising the influx of power from anywhere.

“We have to get there now!” Kuroo ordered as he took off towards the light; not a sense of hesitation in his step.

Without a second thought, the other guardians followed. They ran as if the world was ending right at that moment and if they weren’t fast enough, it probably would. Akiteru’s heart was beating in his ears as he thought of the worst scenario. He knew that much energy was bad, especially since Kei was able to affect them even from this distance.

His brother really was going to burn out this time.

“Tsukishima-san, do you have any idea why his power is spilling out like this?” Akaashi inquired as they ran.

“Maybe?” Akiteru winced, “There was a smog earlier; I saw it in the distance. The Light within my brother would immediately want to purge the darkness that was threatening him, however, it would only protect Kei as an individual. and no one else”

“Then why is it doing this?!” Bokuto demanded; strangely serious as his fire started to snake up his arms.

“Iwaizumi had to fight whoever they were facing by himself,” Akiteru guessed, “He’s probably exhausted his energy and Kei would’ve felt the need to act...”

_ I refuse to be that liability Nii-san _ .

“His whole life, everything revolved around keeping him safe and even though he was really young he knew it..”

“Well at this rate, he’s not going to make it.” Kageyama stated bluntly.

After that statement, the light seemed to suddenly extinguish and the power that had been growing steadily within them all had finally siphoned off. They all burst through the final copse of trees and into a clearing; Akiteru’s eyes immediately being assaulted by the damage inflicted upon the earth. Bits of tectonic plate had been layered on top of one another; nearby trees had been split open like eggs. There was even evidence of scorch marks from where Kei’s light had burned bright enough to set some weakened foliage alight. 

“Hajime!”

Akiteru was yanked out of his study of the world around him when he finally took in what was happening before his very eyes. He saw the distinct form of Iwaizumi Hajime swathed in darkness and huddled over another figure before he seemingly melted into whatever was left of the shadow leaving no one in its place.

Akiteru’s heart thundered in his chest.

They.

They had lost.

Tokai had.

Tokai had Kei.

He had failed.

He had…

“Tsukishima-san, snap out of it!”

Akiteru fell right out of his spiral to see Akaashi standing in front of him; his hands wrapped tightly around the taller blond’s forearms. 

“Tsukishima-san, you cannot afford to lose it. We need your help.”

The blond blinked almost dumbly,

“My help...my brother…”

“Tsukishima-kun is fine,” Akaashi stated tightly; Akiteru only just realising that he could hear both outside his body and inside his brain as the brunet tried to communicate with him telepathically, “Iwaizumi-san succeeded in his duty before he…”

It was at that moment that Akiteru realised that the rest of the guardians were gathered around a mound of dirt. Hanamaki had his hand pressed against it with a defeat expression on his face. Even from where he was standing he could see that he was trying to fight back his own pain. He watched as Hanamaki once again disappeared in one moment, and then reappeared the next.

However, when he reappeared again, he had the body of Kei in his arms.


	11. Recovering Pride

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Guardians try and come to terms with the aftermath, and Kei faces Yamaguchi for a discussion that they should’ve had long ago.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here’s the update minna~
> 
> I apologise for making you wait, I lost my internet this week so I have to use my phone data sparingly until my new internet gets put in next week. :/
> 
> Regardless, I hope you all enjoy the update and I thank you for all the support!

The small clearing in the woods was devoid of the luminous light that had engulfed it mere moments ago. The damage caused by Iwaizumi-san and his adversary’s battle could be seen by everyone and the results were severe.  
  
Akaashi Keiji was staring at the torn up earth and marks surrounding the clearing with a mix of awe and confusion; the ground was obviously because of Iwa’s magic, but the marks reminded him of when lightning struck the front of the guild hall that one time. The brunet narrowed his eyes to scan the treeline, searching for a sign of anyone else who could’ve interfered with the battle at any point, but there didn’t seem to be anything.  
  
A deep tension was stirring between the remaining guardians and it was making every one of them uneasy. His eyes were trained on Tsukishima’s unconscious form to see if there was any permanent damage, but his senses were on high alert just in case there were any other enemies waiting in the wings. They couldn’t afford to be distracted.  
  
Especially at a time like this.  
  
Keiji was known for being able to read any given situation and thinking on his feet; his magic made this easy for him. He was also known for being able to keep a calm facade -- his mask flawless and polite; masquerading the plotting that actually happened beneath the surface.  
  
But at the moment, he couldn’t think of anything.  
  
Their Light was unresponsive.  
  
Their Foundation had crumbled.  
  
Keiji was beginning to wonder if a plan could ever fix the mess that they now found themselves in. He found his gaze wandering around the clearing; searching for answer to a question that he didn’t even know how to ask. Tsukishima-kun was laid out on the grass; eyes closed and distinguished black frames slightly crooked. His face was drawn out and pale allowing the deep red river on his cheek to stand out in stark contrast.  
  
His blond hair was mussed and his face slack; the complete opposite of the forced composure that Keiji was used to seeing on the younger teen. Keiji wasn’t one for lying to himself. He knew that he watched Tsukishima Kei a little more closely than what was probably appropriate, but his eyes couldn’t help but be drawn to him. Not in the physical sense -- though he wasn’t blind -- but in the sense that he could see the person Tsukishima-kun was trying so desperately to hide.  
  
He knew that his magic wasn’t exactly fair.  
  
His magic gave him the ability to see the innermost thoughts and desires of anyone he looked at. He was able to see emotions. Passing thoughts. Dreams. Nightmares. If they could name it, he most likely saw it and felt it alongside them. That’s how he knew that despite the cold front their Light put off, Tsukishima-kun cared deeply for those who he held closest to him. Keiji had gotten so used to hearing the blond’s sarcastic thoughts rumbling soothingly in the back of his head, but now, it was silent.  
  
And it unnerved Keiji in ways that he never thought was possible.  
  
Well, besides Bokuto and Kuroo of course.  
  
At Tsukishima-kun’s side was none other than his brother and Yamaguchi-kun. Both of them attempting to check the younger blond over to see what they could do. Judging by the repeated thoughts of blame and fear running through Tsukishima-san’s head, he was starting to think that Yamaguchi-kun was the one doing most of the medical aid side of things. His theory was further proven when he noticed the orange portal open at Yamaguchi-kun’s side as he rummaged around for what appeared to be supplies.  
  
Keiji once again felt his mind being drawn to the stark emptiness of Tsukishima-kun’s psyche.  
  
He forced back a shiver and tried to distract himself once more and tried to move his attention to a source of constance in his life. Across the clearing, about a meter or so from where Keiji stood parallel with Tsukishima-kun, stood Bokuto and Kuroo. The water and fire guardians were eerily silent themselves; their golden eyes also trained on their fallen light. It wasn’t too odd for Kuroo to be silent and serious; after all, he had his moments.  
  
He was the second of the Nekoma guild and one of their key strategists; he was meant to be level-headed from time to time. However, it was also in his nature to rile others up -- to get their opponents to make a mistake or act impulsively. He always knew the right things to say at the right time (with some margin for error), but at this moment, he had nothing to say.  
  
And then Bokuto. Well, he was a different matter entirely.  
  
Keiji has known Bokuto Koutarou his entire life. At the ripe age of seven, he was ‘tasked’ with the job of ‘guarding’ the fire mage of Fukurodani. The silver haired owl was just as energetic as his magic suggested and in the beginning Keiji was subject to many a-headache, both figuratively and literally. Bokuto was not a force to be tamed; no matter what anyone said, he was better when he was running around and screaming at the top of his lungs.  
  
That’s how you knew what Bokuto was thinking.  
  
Sure, he had the proclivity for depressive episodes and meltdowns that Keiji and the rest of the Fukurodani guild call his ‘emo-mode’, but even at those moments it was easy to tell what was going through Bokuto’s mind. Magic or not.  
  
It’s when the fire mage goes quiet that he becomes scary.  
  
It’s when he goes quiet and Keiji has to rely on his magic to suss out Bokuto’s warring emotions that he becomes concerned.  
  
They were moments just like this one.  
  
Moments where Bokuto’s hands furled at his side and his fire magic burns just beneath the surface; ready to be unleashed at even a twitch of a finger.  
  
 _We could have been faster. We could have been faster. We could have been faster. We should have been faster._  
  
 _Train. Train. Need to Train more. Need to get stronger. Need to..._  
  
Before Keiji could even think about approaching Bokuto or sending out calming thoughts to the taller mage, a loud curse reached his ears; his eyes being immediately drawn to the form of Matsukawa-san who had his metal covered fist buried into the bark of a tree. His frustration building and building, looking for any excuse to break free.  
  
Which was bound to happen considering Iwaizumi-san had disappeared right before their eyes. Normally, he would look to Hanamaki-san to calm the tall metal mage but he looked just as furious as Matsukawa-san did.  
  
“What was he thinking?” Hanamaki-san hissed furiously.  
  
Matsukawa-san ripped himself away from the tree he was facing and growled under his breath,  
  
“He got what he wanted. He…”  
  
In retaliation for whatever statement was going to tumble out of the tall brunet’s mouth, Hanamaki-san raised his foot and kicked the slightly younger teen in the shin.  
  
“Issei, don’t you dare finish that sentence.” He warned with a scowl, “Don’t make excuses for him.”  
  
Keiji’s eyebrows furrowed slightly as he took in the swarm of emotions surrounding the two mages. He could sense a deeply rooted love between them, something fairly similar to the bond that he himself shared with Bokuto and Kuroo, but there was also a darkness that sullied their connection in an almost irreparable way.  
  
“Matsukawa-senpai, Hanamaki-senpai,” Kageyama Tobio tried to garner their attention boldly; a sense of hesitance in his voice, “Can you tell us what happened so that we could better understand?”  
  
Matsukawa-san’s dark eyes slowly drifted from Hanamaki-san’s to land on Kageyama. The brunet sighed tensely and nodded his head slightly to show that he heard the question, though he seemed reluctant to answer it. His hands were once again furled at his side and his whole body seemed to shake from just that force alone.  
  
“What do you mean by that Kageyama?” Hinata trilled as he bounced slightly on the balls of his feet; his eyebrows furrowed in confusion, “How would they know what happened; they were with us the entire time...right?"  
  
“Of course they were boke!” Kageyama rolled his eyes in frustration, “I mean what happened before...with Oikawa-senpai…”  
  
Again the utterance of Oikawa Tooru’s name sent an uncomfortable ripple through the two Aobajohsai mages. Keiji could feel snippets of remorse, guilt, and mourning coming off them. He has felt something like this from them in the past, but Iwaizumi-san’s own feelings of self-loathing and depression seemed to conceal Matsukawa-san and Hanamaki-san’s own emotions from view. Though a large part of that could be because they pushed their own emotions to the background in order to take care of Iwaizumi-san.  
  
And now with Iwaizumi-san gone, they had no true reason to compartmentalise their overflowing negative emotions.  
  
“Kageyama-kun, now is not the time to answer that question,” Keiji intervened softly, “Right now our duty is getting Tsukishima-kun to safety.”  
  
The raven haired boy frowned,  
  
“But…”  
  
“No Kageyama, ‘Kaashi is right.” Kuroo stepped forward and placed a hand on the younger boy’s shoulder, “We need to get Tsukki the help he needs, not to mention we all need to rest as well. We might have won the battle today, but it wasn’t without a few losses.”  
  
The gravity manipulator stared at the bedheaded teen thoughfully, as if prepared to argue further, but instead nodded in understanding. Out of the corner of his eye, Keiji noticed as Matsukawa-san and Hanamaki-san relaxed if only briefly. The Aobajohsai mages seemed to send an almost grateful glance towards Keiji and Kuroo before turning their attention to Tsukishima-san, Yamaguchi-kun, and the unconscious Light.  
  
“Is he going to be okay?” Hanamaki-san inquired as he placed his hands on his hips in an attempt to force a relaxed posture.  
  
“Yeah,” Yamaguchi-kun answered readily; even if he seemed distracted by what he was doing, “He’ll need a lot of rest, the blatant overuse of his magic is the main reason he’s like this; there’s not a scratch on him.”  
  
As the words left his mouth, everyone seemed to instantly relax. Keiji didn’t even realise the tension he was carrying in his own shoulders until Tsukishima-kun was revealed to be for the most part unharmed. A large hoot rang through the air prompting a small smile to appear on his lips; Bokuto’s depressive mood giving way to the explosive energy that he was known for.  
  
“That’s good news at least,” Matsukawa-san whispered, “At least Iwa’s last effort wasn’t pointless.”  
  
Keiji glanced over at Tsukishima-san just in case the statement would be taken the wrong way, but with a sort of relief he realised that the eldest Tsukishima was nodding his head in agreeance.  
  
“Iwaizumi really pulled through for us,” Tsukishima-san stood up and faced the Aobajohsai mages, “And as soon as Kei is strong enough, we’ll find him and bring him back; he is our foundation after all.”  
  
For the first time in what had to be hours, a small smile spread across Matsukawa-san’s lips as he nodded; Hanamaki-san mirroring his expression from beside him.  
  
“Now, let’s get out of these woods.”  
  
Hanamaki-san extended his arms and once again a magic circle sprung to life underneath them; a magic-laced wind dancing around them as the teleportation magic started to take effect.  
  
“Keijiiiiiiii, let’s do the jump together!”  
  
Keiji felt himself smiling subconsciously as he felt Bokuto’s strong arm wrap around his shoulder and pull him against his chest. He rubbed his head faintly where it rested before raising his head to stare into the fire user’s luminous golden eyes,  
  
“You know, we can do the jump together without you holding onto me Bokuto-san.” He teased.  
  
“But, but Keiiiiijjjiiii…”  
  
Keiji chuckled softly and wrapped a reciprocating arm around Bokuto’s waist. He caught sight of Kuroo hovering near his other side; his cat-like eyes unwavering from Tsukishima-kun’s slumbering form. Keiji reached out and wrapped a tentative hand around the raven’s clenched one.  
  
“He’ll be alright Kuroo-san.” He whispered, “We’ll be sure of it.”  
  
The only response he receives in return is Kuroo uncurling his fist and lacing his fingers with Keiji”s; a comforting squeeze passing between the two as they were swept up into the vortex that was Hanamaki-san’s teleportation magic. As the forest started to swirl into oblivion, to be replaced by the streets and buildings of Sendai, his gunmetal gaze never strayed from Tsukishima Kei.  
  
And he knew that Bokuto and Kuroo’s gaze were on the young Light as well.  
  
He also knew that from this moment on, the three of them wouldn’t leave him alone.  
  
They couldn’t.  
  
XxXxXxXxXx  
  
 _He was surrounded by lush forest; the blades of grass were blowing beneath his feet and the leaves were speaking to each other in hushed whispers filling the soothing silence with calm rhythmic rustling. He was pretty sure he could hear spring birds chirping in the distance and a… a… woodpecker… yeah that’s it… a woodpecker knocking against a nearby tree trunk._  
  
 _He buried his bare feet in the thick dirt underneath his toes; the dense soil cradling his soles as his mother’s arms used to cradle him. He closed his eyes as he felt a burning sensation against the back of his eyes. He felt his throat starting to constrict from the sobs that were starting to build. The rapid sounds of the woodpecker’s beak started to grate on his ears as it was enough to make him remember what had just happened in his village._  
  
 _The sound of gunshots…_  
  
 _The screams…_  
  
 _The accusations…_  
  
 _The earth crying out to him as it was forcefully pulled open…_  
  
 _He didn’t want to hurt them… not really._  
  
 _But they made him do it._  
  
 _They killed his parents because they found out. They found out about his secret… they found out that he wasn’t human. Fresh tears started to make their way down his cheeks as the wounds on his heart continued to throb. It wasn’t his parents fault… they had only stumbled upon him one day… just floating in the river. If only they hadn’t taken him in, then they would be happy right now._  
  
 _They would be alive..._  
  
 _“Are you alright?”_  
  
 _He raised his head and found himself looking into the eyes of a boy who was a little younger than himself. Doe-like brown eyes pierced his soul like a knife; somehow that gaze made him feel as if he were transparent. He was unable to hide anything from his personal light… and in a way… he didn’t want to hide anything from him either._  
  
 _“Of course I am, I just remembered something.”_  
  
 _The boy tilted his head and regarded him thoughtfully,_  
  
 _“You know, it’s not good for you to keep all those thoughts in that small brain of yours.”_  
  
 _He scowled and elbowed the other boy in annoyance,_  
  
 _“Shut up Trashykawa, I’m not an idiot like you.”_  
  
 _The slightly taller brunet sighed dramatically with an accompanying pout,_  
  
 _“Rude, Iwa-chan!”_  
  
 _The young Iwaizumi found himself snickering wholeheartedly as he thumped his best friend on the back,_  
  
 _“Yeah, yeah c’mon Assikawa we should be getting back before Mattsun and Makki come and find us.”_  
  
 _“Stop butchering my name like that Iwa-chan!~” He screeched as he grabbed onto the young Iwaizumi’s forearm and started to pull him towards their home; Seijou, the Aobajohsai guild._  
  
 _But with the smile on Tooru’s face, Hajime knew that Oikawa truly didn’t want him to stop calling him those nicknames._  
  
Kei sat forward with a gasp; his heart beating in his chest a mile a minute.  
  
He glanced around thinking he would find the Demon King somewhere only to suddenly realise that he was no longer in the forest. Actually, it looked as if he was in some sort of room. Though the room was steadily growing darker and his glasses missing, Kei could faintly make out the off-beige colour of the four walls and what looked to be some sort of scenic painting hanging on the wall adjacent to him. He could make out the shape of another double bed next to his own with a rickety dresser separating the two; the blurry numbers of a digital clock blinking at him.  
  
He narrowed his eyes in attempt to make out the numbers, but gave up due to the ensuing headache that it caused. Kei cursed under his breath and pinched the bridge of his nose as he closed his eyes. Behind his lids, remnants of his dream flashed forth forcing his eyes to open once more. He had seen glimpses of Iwaizumi’s childhood this time.  
  
Iwaizumi and the Demon King.  
  
No. Iwaizumi and Oikawa Tooru.  
  
Kei sat up fully in his bed causing the somewhat scratchy sheets to pool in his lap. He reached out blindly for his glasses, pleased to find that someone was intelligent enough to leave his lenses near so he could grab them. He adjusted the familiar dark frames on his face and pushed the blankets aside so he could get up. It was weird that he had awoken without Akiteru hovering over him, which meant that something had to have happened.  
  
He threw his legs over the corner of the bed and raised himself onto his feet when his legs gave out from under him before he could even try to take a step. Stiff muscles that he didn’t even know he possessed protested as he landed roughly on the bed.  
  
Now that he thought about it, he didn’t even remember leaving the forest, let alone the sore muscles that accompanied it.  
  
What the hell happened out there?  
  
He thought back to the battle with the Demon King and the last thing he remembers is the activation of the Demon King’s Demon Eye and then… there’s nothing.  
  
It was like everything after that was erased…did something happen to Iwaizumi? With a renewed will that he didn’t realise he had, Kei pushed himself to his feet and managed to stay standing. He stumbled to the door, barely stable, when the door opened as he reached for the handle. In moments he was staring into the eyes of none other than Yamaguchi Tadashi; at least that meant he wasn’t in enemy hands.  
  
“Tsukki!”  
  
He jumped back from the shout and nearly fell flat on his ass; he would’ve too, but luckily the freckled brunet managed to latch onto him and keep him standing. The hazel eyed boy led him back over to the bed once more and sat him down. He was mumbling under his breath as he pulled one of the chairs from the table nearby and sat across from him. He noticed the worry lines etched on his slightly pale face and the dark circles under his eyes. Yamaguchi also looked as if he hadn’t slept in a while.  
  
It was like he was grieving.  
  
No…  
  
“Is...” He hesitated, “Did Iwaizumi-san...”  
  
“No,” Yamaguchi placed his hands on his shoulders only for him to flinch away, “Tsukki?"  
  
“Tadashi…” He whispered sullenly, “is he…”  
  
“NO!” Yamaguchi shouted frantically as he waved his hands in front of his face, “No, he’s not dead; at least we don’t think so.”  
  
Kei frowned in confusion,  
  
“What does that mean?”  
  
The brunet rubbed the back of his neck nervously,  
  
“When we finally found the two of you, Iwaizumi-san was disappearing into a dark fog, and you were trapped in this earth mound completely unconscious. We don’t know where he is or what happened, but last we saw he was alive."  
  
The blond clicked his tongue and shifted his gaze feigning a sense of annoyance; instead his mind was going a mile a minute. He clenched his hands into fists on his knees and scowled. Even with all this power, people were still throwing their lives away for him.  
  
Pathetic.  
  
“No,” Yamaguchi tutted reprimandingly, “I know that look Tsukki.”  
  
Kei scoffed under his breath,  
  
“What look? It’s not like I knew him well or anything, nor was he the most forthcoming person; who says that that hot-headed idiot could affect me any way.”  
  
Silence met his statement, and he wasn’t all surprised by it. He wanted the silence. He wanted Yamaguchi to take that brash statement for what it was. A brick for his wall. It was time for him to repair it, no reconstruct and reinforce it,  so no one else could get involved. No one else would make the dumb mistake of protecting him with their life. No one else would through their life away for the sake of pride and not for the sake of Light.  
  
First it was Akiteru.  
  
Now it was Iwaizumi-san. Twice, if his memory and their discussion prior to the Demon King proved correct.  
  
Who would be next?  
  
Yamaguchi?  
  
Kuroo-san? Bokuto-san? Akaashi-san?  
  
No. He was not going to let them destroy themselves for the sake of pride or him. He was just a sole person, his life wasn’t worth theirs; prophecy or no prophecy. They wouldn’t have even come for him if they weren’t bound to complete some pointless prophecy that may or may not come true.  
  
What was the point in it all?  
  
“You’re wrong!”  
  
Kei flinched away from the unexpected shout of his best friend and withdrew from the brunet in surprise.  
  
“You almost died Kei. If Iwaizumi-san didn’t do whatever he did, you would’ve been gone!” Yamaguchi hissed; something igniting in his hazel eyes.  
  
Kei pursed his lips and rolled his eyes,  
  
“Stop being so dramatic Yamaguchi; it’s annoying. Listen to yourself.”  
  
“You’re the one who isn’t listening!” Yamaguchi flung back without hesitation; jumping to his feet, “Everyone here is here to help you Kei; you have the ability to end all of this, and it’s something we all wish we could have. The others have the power to help you, why won’t you let them?”  
  
Kei clenched his fists in his lap,  
  
“Because it’s pointless!”  
  
Yamaguchi’s mouth dropped open in disbelief and stared at him incredulously. His mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water for a moment before settling into a grim line.  
  
“We have a job to do and we must do it even if it seems impossible; we need to keep fighting.”  
  
Kei scoffed again as he finally pushed himself to his full height once more so that he towered imposingly over Yamaguchi. He stared at the brunet down his nose and scowled at him. Just a few more words and he’d be able to chase  
Yamaguchi away with his imposing wall. Then he could finally be alone and no one else would get hurt in this useless war.  
  
He turned his gaze away from his best friend,  
  
“What’s the point in fighting a battle we’re never going to win? We’re going to keep running into opponents who are bigger and stronger than us; why continue to risk your lives for the world when it will never repay you? What type of motivation is that?"  
  
An almost awkward atmosphere descended upon the two of them for the first time in years. Yamaguchi was always a cheerful constant at his side. There to shine some warmth on the days when he felt his loneliness. While others were intimidated by his tall stature, Yamaguchi clung to him as though he were the lone buoy in a swarming, seething ocean. Even when he was at his foulest, Yamaguchi was there supporting him. Kei wasn’t about to let him torture himself like that anymore; he was going to set Yamaguchi free.  
  
Kei was literally yanked out of his musings when Yamaguchi’s fist snapped forward and curled into the fabric of his jumper pulling him forward and off balance. His eyes widened as he took in the stormy aura of his friend as his dark hazel eyes burned with an intensity that Kei had never seen before.  
  
“Motivation?” Yamaguchi shouted in his face, “What motivation do I need other than pride?!”  
  
Kei frowned,  
  
“You would truly stake your very life for the sake of your pride Tadashi? That seems lame if you…”  
  
“You’re the one who is being lame here Kei!” Yamaguchi cut him off harshly; the hand tangled in his jumper shaking furiously, “You have the power to take down Tokai, and yet a part of you is afraid of it; afraid of him, and you don’t need to be."  
  
The blond clenched his jaw and tried to glance away,  
  
“Tadashi.”  
  
“No Kei, you’re going to listen to me.” Yamaguchi said forcefully, “I may be lame, and unlike the others I only have one magic ability: my storage magic. But, I am going to fight with all that I have and put every skill I do possess onto the battlefield; I’m going to use my pride and my magic to change the flow of this war in any way that I can.”  
  
A sharp chill engulfed the room immediately silencing any rebutal that Kei might have had. He stared into the burning eyes of his friend and felt a warmth fill his chest; a warm comfort that he hasn’t been able to feel from Yamaguchi in a long, long time. Despite everything that had been said, Kei felt a sly smile tugging on his lips. This was not the same Yamaguchi Tadashi he had to protect from bullies when they were little boys; this Yamaguchi had a strength that was all his own and Kei couldn't help but feel envious of it.  
  
“Uhm Tsukki,” Yamaguchi’s grip lessened on his jumper, “Are you alright?"  
  
Kei chuckled under his breath and looked down at his best friend; an almost softness creasing his eyes,  
  
“Yeah, just wondering when you got to be so cool Tadashi."  
  
Seemingly flustered by the statement, Yamaguchi released Kei’s jumper completely and started waving his arms back and forth frantically,  
  
“No, I’m not…”  
  
“Shut up Yamaguchi, and accept the compliment.”  
  
The brunet laughed awkwardly; a light pink dusting his cheeks for a brief moment before he shook it off and turned towards the door with his hands on his hips. Kei laughed into the back of his hand as his friend strode with some sort of purpose towards the door.  
  
“C’mon Tsukki, I’ll take you to the others.” Yamaguchi turned his head towards him again,”They’ll be happy to see that you’re alright.”  
  
Kei fought back a grimace as he thought of the others.  
  
Yamaguchi may have created a crevice in his wall, but he wouldn’t let anyone else. Not his brother. Not Kuroo, Bokuto or Akaashi. Though, the fourth will prove to be the hardest to keep out because of his magic, he’d try.  
  
Because even if Yamaguchi was right, pride wasn’t going to be his motivation.  
  
No.  
  
His motivation was going to be simple.  
  
He was going to become their Shield.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!


End file.
